Of course Perry found himself overwhelmed by it. Put yourself in his place, with Millions of people watching; And being the only candidate having to defend himself from several vicious attacks coming at him one after another.
I think the American public who watched this ridiculous spectacle also feel some sort of empathy for Perry. He handled himself with dignity through it all. The reason I say this is, shortly after the debate, Perry's contributions went up dramatically.
Trying not to be cynical or pessimistic, let's all wait and see what comes out of the next Town Hall format of debates, as well as how the rest of the campaign season turns out. Because really, if Perry was a stupid as you say he is, then his campaign would be a disaster by now. Instead, he is even better financed and organized now than he was one month ago.
Stupid people do not have that ability or know how on setting up such a strong campaign network in such a short time. It appears you are selling him painfully short.
One could argue the same scenario in regards to Cain. Which in Cain's case, he has no such established campaign and is winging it on a day by day, chaotic basis. He cannot keep this charade going on much longer.
Hey, Perry’s helping the economy with all that campaign spending... how’s stock in button printing companies doing?