Perry's Debate Flop Could End Campaign
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – Texas Governor Rick Perry has gone from savior to failure in just a few months. From his debate flops to questions over whether he was inebriated during a recent speech, Perry's campaign has collapsed nationwide and in the Sunshine State.
According to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, Perry trails President Obama by a 46-40 percent margin in Florida.
Looking at the trend, Obama is extending his lead since Perry emerged in August as a candidate. In addition, Obama dominates Perry among independent voters in Florida.
Those polls also came before Perry epically failed while trying to describe which branches of the government he would eliminate in a CNBC debate Wednesday night.
Perry has performed poorly in each debate, but Wednesday's sealed his fate in the GOP primary.
Perry was describing the three agencies he would eliminate and named two of them before completely freezing up. He struggled to name anything after saying he would eliminate the commerce and education departments.
Mitt Romney chimed in and asked if it was the EPA? Perry initially agreed but then backtracked when he was asked by a moderator if that was indeed the department he would eliminate.
Eventually, Perry had to simply give up without an answer.
Perry would later chime in saying that it was the Department of Energy he would also eliminate.
It was roughly 53 seconds, but it was enough to derail Perry's once-promising GOP campaign.
Perry got into the race in early August after prodding from conservatives. Some Republicans expected him to bring his Texas-style politics to the national stage.
But as Perry began to stumble in debates, his numbers began to head south. As the national spotlight was put on his record in Texas and his claims were debunked, Perry's numbers only continued to go down.
Perry was once considered to be the front-runner. But, after his debate gaffe and his plummeting poll numbers in swing states, Perry will join the rest of the candidates without a chance to win including: Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Gary Johnson, Sarah Palin; and those who have already dropped out including: Donald Trump, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, and Chris Christie.
