As far as a recap, it doesn't get any better than this series by Steve Benen, and they all deserve top billing.
By Steve Benen
Some debate screw-ups are so memorable, they practically become iconic. Gerald Ford claiming there was “no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe,” Dan Quayle comparing himself to JFK, and James Stockdale asking who he is and what he’s doing there were all
pretty unforgettable.
And it looks like Rick Perry joined them last night. In the unlikely event you haven’t already seen the Texas governor’s brain freeze, here’s the clip:
<...>
After trying and failing several more times to list them, Perry could only name education, then remembered commerce while checking his notes. Pressed by John Harwood for the rest of his list, the governor concluded, “The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”
Later, Perry said he was trying to remember the Department of Energy, but forgot it. “I’m glad I had my boots on tonight,” he told reporters after the debate. “I stepped in it out there.” Perry added, however, that he will not skip the debate in South Carolina, scheduled for Saturday.
moreBy Steve Benen
Herman Cain was awfully lucky last night. Were it not for Rick Perry’s “
oops” moment, much of the political world’s discussion today would be over his own remarkably bad debate performance.
For example, Cain was asked about the sexual-harassment allegations that have surfaced over the last couple of weeks. It led to this remark:
“I value my character and my integrity more than anything else. And for every one person that comes forward with a false accusation, there are probably, there are thousands who would say none of that sort of activity ever came from Herman Cain.”
This was probably a prepared line, and that only makes it worse. Is Cain really counting on his harassment-to-non-harassment ratio to make himself look better? “Sure,” he seemed to be saying, “I’ve been accused by several women. But there are plenty of women who haven’t accused me.”
It’s a bit like an accused car thief telling the police, “Just think about all the cars I came across that I didn’t steal.”
moreBy Steve Benen
Were it not for
Rick Perry’s and
Herman Cain’s bizarre remarks last night, I’d like to think Mitt Romney’s explanation on flip-flopping would be a bigger deal this morning.
To his credit, John Harwood, one of the debate’s co-moderators, pressed the Republican frontrunner on “seeming to be on all sides” of some issues, adding, “Your opponents have said you switched positions on many issues.” Harwood ultimately asked, “What can you say to Republicans to persuade them that the things you say in the campaign are rooted in something deeper than the fact that you are running for office?”
Romney replied:
“I think people understand that I’m a man of steadiness and constancy. I don’t think you are going to find somebody who has more of those attributes than I do. I have been married to the same woman for 25 — excuse me, I will get in trouble, for 42 years.
“I have been in the same church my entire life. I worked at one company, Bain, for 25 years. And I left that to go off and help save the Olympic Games. I think it is outrageous the Obama campaign continues to push this idea…. Let me tell you this, if I’m president of the United States, I will be true to my family, to my faith, and to our country, and I will never apologize for the United States of America.”
I realize Romney looks like a terrific debater in light of his GOP competition, but this response offers a reminder about just how empty Romney’s suit really is.
The former governor seems to want credit for consistency for not having changed his religion or his wife. Granted, that’s a two-prong test that Newt Gingrich fails, but it hardly makes Romney “a man of steadiness and constancy.” Indeed, what does Romney’s faith and wife have to do with his willingness to shift with the political winds on every issue under the sun?
moreThe Republican debate is a Democratic ad gold mine.
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