We had one candidate with a chance to unite both the establishment and Tea Party wings of our party. He has been under relentless attack from the DNC and the GOP / Romney wing from the left, and from Paul and his supporters and the Palin supporters from the right.
It was inevitable his numbers would fall, and it was very easy to predict it would make Mitt Romney far more likely to be our nominee.
At the same time, although Perry has been badly damaged, I don't think he is dead yet. If he manages not to lose any more ground, he can still be our nominee.
If so, he would then be able to return fire, at Obama. I think the gap we see today would close quickly and (hopefully) decisively.
It is all predicated on him stabilizing quickly though. We'll see how he does.
I don’t like Perry at all. Romney is a flipper for sure - but Perry strikes me as a more arrogant, less restrained, less intelligent, and less likable GWB.
No thanks. i would take Ron Paul, Huntsamn, or Santorum over perry right now.