# Perry the Showman \[Rick Perry's speeches and debate performances\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 1, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460 "2011-11-01T04:22:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/21 "2011-11-02T01:02:27Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Is this speech Perry’s Dean Scream moment? Because if Howard Dean couldn’t recover from that single exuberant expression to go on to win the nomination, I can’t imagine how Perry’s going to be able to live this down. > > The guy looks seriously like he’s on something other than adrenaline. He’s on “_ **The Gay** _” :eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/22 "2011-11-02T01:03:20Z")
Perry’s been on the skids for several weeks. I don’t think any one moment did it. His comments on illegal immigration were badly received, that incoherent attack on Mitt Romney at one of the debates hurt him. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/23 "2011-11-02T02:00:39Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Is this speech Perry’s Dean Scream moment? Because if Howard Dean couldn’t recover from that single exuberant expression to go on to win the nomination, I can’t imagine how Perry’s going to be able to live this down. > > The guy looks seriously like he’s on something other than adrenaline. No, he’s been on a freefall for a while now. His meteoric rise when he announced his candidacy was only because the republican base didn’t know him and they are desperate for a not Romney/not Crazy candidate. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/24 "2011-11-02T02:15:32Z")
Drunk or high or _somethin’_. The giggly moments, the languid hand motions, the rambling syntax…for some odd reason I was reminded of [Mariah Carey’s bizarre speech](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrou5EKY2zk&feature=player_embedded)at the Palm Springs film fest. But Perry couldn’t match her cleavage. SS ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/25 "2011-11-03T00:38:45Z")
That was merely the latest performance on Perry’s Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/26 "2011-11-03T01:21:58Z")
So why isn’t the press asking pointed questions of him like they are of Cain? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/27 "2011-11-03T02:02:50Z")
Color me amazed that this is not getting more attention. As someone mentioned upthread, Howard Dean was pilloried for far less of (and a more justifiable) flameout. I wasn’t a Dean fan, but I thought that was pretty unfair, considering the dude just won the freakin’ primary. I thought at first he was mocking gay people by adopting a fey persona. But that’s just Rick being Rick, I guess. I think if he hadn’t been such a starched shirt it might have been him loosening up a bit. It just strikes me as so different from the Perry we know, and it indcates a few things, none of which are good: 1. he’s drunk or high. Not exactly what you want out of your chief exec. 2. He has a bizarre sense of humor. 3. He really is this flamboyant, arms waving kind of guy and he’s been fronting like he’s not. Or he’s a wallflower and he just turned that on. Either way it’s inauthentic and phony. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/28 "2011-11-03T02:10:58Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > So why isn’t the press asking pointed questions of him like they are of Cain? Because his candidacy has apparently, heh, flamed out. He got tough questions about the ranch and a few about other issues, even his tax plan. But when the guy who’s running in fourth or fifth place does something weird, it doesn’t really affect his chances anyway, so it’s not a huge story. Especially not if a guy who’s ahead or nearly ahead in the polls is going through a big scandal at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/29 "2011-11-03T02:27:52Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > 1. He really is this flamboyant, arms waving kind of guy and he’s been fronting like he’s not. Or he’s a wallflower and he just turned that on. Either way it’s inauthentic and phony. According to him: “a pretty typical speech for me” and “I’ve probably given 1,000 speeches. There are some that have been probably boring, some that have been animated, some that have been in between.” In that case it seems like there should be a ton of videos like this. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/02/MN4M1LP682.DTL&tsp=1](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/02/MN4M1LP682.DTL&tsp=1) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/30 "2011-11-03T02:29:09Z")
Who’d have thought a guy whose nickname was “The Hair” would turn out to have so little substance? Oh wait. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/31 "2011-11-03T11:19:42Z")
Huh. I honestly don’t get it. He’s being funny. I’ve seen politicians do that before, and it’s never bothered me. (I didn’t pay much attention to what his actual jokes were, though.) Nothing in the video made me think of intoxication. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/32 "2011-11-03T14:57:44Z")
I won’t say it’s conclusive, but he sure _looks_ intoxicated to me, in the way someone who’s tipsy or taking benzos (or deadlier, both) might be. His gestures seem slightly uncoordinated and his timing is off—particularly his comic timing, such as it is. Blitzed or not, he’s definitely trying too way hard and coming across like a goofy weirdo instead of the congenial wit he seems to be shooting for. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/33 "2011-11-03T16:52:06Z")
(with apologies to Frosty) Perry the showman Was a very happy soul. With a nice hash pipe and some button 'shrooms And a nose flaked up with snow. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/34 "2011-11-03T18:47:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > (with apologies to Frosty) > Perry the showman > Was a very happy soul. > With a nice hash pipe and some button 'shrooms > And a nose flaked up with snow. you mean… “And a nose flaked up with _blow_.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/35 "2011-11-03T21:18:40Z")
Dire as Perry’s current position is, I have believed he will make a come-back. Clearly around 75% of GOP primary voter are looking for someone other than Romney and most of them want someone who is more conservative. Perry is the only plausible conservative candidate. He still has lots of money and if he improves his debate performance, sharpens his message and cuts some good ads I would think he could come back. After watching this video I am seriously beginning to doubt this. Perry is very close to becoming a Bachman: someone who is too extreme and too weird to succeed in national politics. Cain and Gingrich fall in the same category. If Perry can’t recover Romney is going to have a very easy path to the nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/36 "2011-11-03T21:52:37Z")
I think the “maple syrup hug” alone could have done him in. That was the most hilarious (and odd) part of the whole affair. He was simply _overjoyed_ when he was presented with that jug of New Hampshire maple syrup. I mean, he was fawning and preening like a teenaged girl just surprised with a brand new car for her 16th birthday. 😃 I guess Rick Perry likes maple syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/37 "2011-11-04T03:32:18Z")
OK, I finally got around to watching it. You know what it looked like to me? It looked like an outtake reel from a TV show, where the actor screws up a line once, and then gets so struck with a fit of the giggles from the first screw-up that they can’t get it right for the next ten tries in a row. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/38 "2011-11-04T15:16:13Z")
The difference between this and the Dean Scream is there’s no single moment that can be clipped and looped infinitely on news highlight reels. It’s just a rambling string of (ostensibly) drunk weirdness. Stupid speeches don’t make as good of a weapon as sound bites. > [@drewtwo99](#): > > Also, Perry does sound incredibly gay during this speech… He did say something about being loud and proud. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/39 "2011-11-04T15:31:13Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Howard Dean was pilloried for far less of (and a more justifiable) flameout. I wasn’t a Dean fan, but I thought that was pretty unfair, considering the dude just won the freakin’ primary. Err…he’d just come in third place in a primary he was expected to win. Which is really why he lost momentum, the scream thing was embarassing, but it was the loss in Iowa after having been the presumed leader for so long that did him in. But yea, Perry either needs to drink more or less before future political appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Da\_Mikster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Da\_Mikster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Da_Mikster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460/40 "2011-11-10T06:13:07Z")
Epic brain fart? … or just unprepared? :smack: [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/rick-pery-forgets-federal-agencies\_n\_1085312.html](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/rick-pery-forgets-federal-agencies_n_1085312.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perry-the-showman-rick-perrys-speeches-and-debate-performances/601460.md?page=3)