Video: Perry’s cringe-worthiest debate moment

Michelle Malkin ^ | 9/23/2011 | Michelle Malkin

[Lakeshark]

I mentioned Rick Perry’s DREAM Act debate blunder in my round-up post.

It gets second place.

The cringe-worthiest moment, by a hair, was when Perry botched what should have been his most potent attack on Mitt Romney’s chronic flip-flopping. As I noted on Twitter when it happened, any random high schooler at the CPAC conference in Washington could have done better than this.

If this is how Perry’s going to take Obama on in debates, we’re in trouble. Someone inject him with some Red Bull and a dash of Herman Cain’s personality.
**snip**

Perry said he’s in favor of making English the official language of the U.S. Perhaps he should concentrate on mastering it before the next debate

[Lakeshark]

Perry committed Hara Kiri (self-immolation) last night, wooden, bumbling, pandering, almost incoherent. After all the splashy PR he's gotten here for the past month, his supporters have a lot of 'splainin' to do........

[Lakeshark]

Video at the link, keep the facepalms to yourself....

:-)

[Cringing Negativism Network]

We’re getting a bit Alinsky around these parts, this morning.

How about we keep it on the high road?

[Erik Latranyi]

I am one who defended Perry from some of the ludicrous attacks, but held my reservations over his stance on immigration, HPV, etc.

I thought he was the best compromise candidate we had, but his debate performance is attrocious!!!!

I cringed with his every response. He bumbles worse than anyone I have seen and he strays all over.

[Vigilanteman]

The only argument the Perrybots have left is "Vote for our guy or you get Mitt Romney by default." To which I shrug "So what? We'd be getting him anyway if we vote for youor guy."

Swap their constituencies and you'd swap their records.One loves open borders, one loves socialized medicine. It is a pretty academic argument as to which is worse for America.

[Clyde5445]

I just saw it on Fox. Not one of his better moments. :)

[101voodoo]

Only political junkies believe anything described here is important to the average voter or will make a difference in who wins the nomination.

As long as a candidate of Perry’s stature (or Romney’s)doesn’t make a HUGE gaffe it won’t matter. Errors in syntax or speech stumbling is a non event and will be forgotten in a matter of hours.

[montag813]

Perry made G.W. Bush sound like a Shakespearean actor by comparison. He insulted tens of millions of Americans with his pathetic 'heart' line and then stumbled and bumbled his way through the rest of the debate, and then lied about a cancer victim inspiring his Gardisil order, when he met her not only AFTER the order, but after it had been overturned by the legislature.

THIS is the Obama-defeater? You've got to be kidding.

[ejonesie22]

He still has nice hair.

Yep that is about all I can see they got...

[avacado]

“Houston home sales surge 30 percent in August”

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/09-20-11-houston-home-sales-surge-30-percent-in-august/

[Sudetenland]

As a (former) Perry advocate, I don't think the delivery was what was "cringe-worthy," I think the fact that he chose to use that tack at all was cringe-worthy.

Michelle is right, that Romney's history of flip-flopping is a potent weapon with which to attack him, but it was completely inappropriate to the moment and the topic. It was a clear moment of Perry saying "Well, I don't have a good answer to your attack on this topic, but look over here everybody--a bunny with a pancake on its head."

When a person in a debate chooses to deflect to that degree, they are admitting that they just got their butts kicked.

I do agree that it was Perry's most cringe-worthy moment, in fact it was at that point in the debate that I got up stopped watching the debate.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

As long as a candidate of Perry’s stature (or Romney’s)doesn’t make a HUGE gaffe it won’t matter.

You don't consider his comment that we're all "heartless" a huge gaffe?

[Lakeshark]

So where are all the Perrywinkles this morning?

That was the first debate I watched, I had never seen Perry speak on the fly before last night. It was cringe worthy the entire time, even worse than I expected. I would hate to be one of his supporters this morning.......

[Above My Pay Grade]

I agree. I was in the “Perry’s not perfect, but he’s the best we’ve got, and way better than Romney camp” until last night. Now I would never vote for Perry (or Romney) in a primary or general election.

Run, Sarah, run!

[magritte]

“You don’t consider his comment that we’re all “heartless” a huge gaffe?”

It’s not a gaffe, because he meant what he said. It hurts him with the “deport them all” crowd, but that’s just a small number of Republicans.

[GBA]

Perry has the most work to do. He's the former demonrat and he has to convince Republicans, especially conservative Republicans, that the word 'former' is accurate.

But, there's something more subtle he has to address. He follows GWB, largely ridiculed on the left and then by the center of being a stoopid, frat boy from Texas.

And then, along comes Perry...

[Lady Lucky]

I can’t bear to watch that twice. My first impression of Perry was that he was weak on defense and likely had a glass jaw.
Last night he proved I was an optimist.
Last night, Perry bit down on his glass jaw and chewed it up on national television.

[Guenevere]

Passionately telling his constituents/American citizens....

..that they are heartless.

....because they don't support his embrace of tuition funding of illegals......

..will not be forgotten!

[DTogo]

“I don’t think you have a heart“ if ”you say that we should not educate children who come into our state for no other reason than that they’ve been brought their through no fault of their own.”

Hey Ricardo, as the spouse of a LEGAL immigrant who's abiding by our immigration laws, KMA!!