And some of you wonder why I call them...

[SlowButSteady]

...The Clown Brigade:

[xymotic]

wow.

A third Bush presidency! Yee haw!

[WouldaShoulda]

I made fun of my dad when he misspoke.

He was SO dumb.

I was SO cool!!

Now, if you want to discuss the wisdom of eliminating cabinet positions or Federal agencies altogether, go ahead!!

[Sailormon6]

Anyone who hasn't drawn a blank while speaking publicly hasn't done much public speaking. When you get tired, your mind isn't as efficient. He's undoubtedly tired. Since every human being is susceptible to such things, any suggestion that it disqualifies him as President means that no human being could meet your standard for a President. Perhaps he should revert to only speaking with the aid of a teleprompter, like our current President. He's never at a loss for words, because someone has already written them and typed them for him.

Now that I think about it, it might be a good thing for us to hear what the actual President thinks about things, instead of hearing what his writers think about things.

[PBzeer]

You mean the guy that thinks we have 57 states and an Intercontinental Railroad?

[SlowButSteady]

This was no simple "slip of the tongue", or brief loss of a singe word. Face it, Perry looked BAD here...really, really, really BAD. I see students get nervous and stumble over their words in front of their peers all the time, and I very occasionally see a colleague have a "senior moment" while giving a paper at a national meeting, I will even sheepishly admit loosing my place in a lecture every once in a very great while. But Perry's performance in that clip is not the stuff of Presidents of the United States.

One of the reasons for face to face debates is to see how candidates respond to a little pressure, how they are able to handle themselves without staff and handlers to intercede when the going gets a little tough. By those measures, Perry miserably failed the test. He looked to be either woefully unprepared, or completely outclassed, or suffering from some mental deficit (which coupled with his apparent drunkenness in that speech a week or so ago, can only make one wonder whether he has a substance abuse problem or the beginnings of some sort of organic brain disease).

[Sailormon6]

Originally Posted by SlowButSteady

One of the reasons for face to face debates is to see how candidates respond to a little pressure, how they are able to handle themselves without staff and handlers to intercede when the going gets a little tough.

In the next round of debates, President Obama isn't going to get a free pass, like he did last time. When he begins every statement with "Ya know," and fills long, pregnant silences with "uh, uh, uh, uh, uh," it will be noticed. Even high school speech students know better than to use such crutches. It's unheard of among Presidents, with the exception of President Lyndon Johnson. That's why he has to rely on teleprompters.

The bloom is definitely off President Obama's rose, and people who are out of work don't want to hear empty promises and platitudes this time from a President who can't even persuade his own party to support his proposals, let alone the opposition party.

[WouldaShoulda]

Originally Posted by SlowButSteady

Perry miserably failed the test. He looked to be either woefully unprepared, or completely outclassed, or suffering from some mental deficit (which coupled with his apparent drunkenness in that speech a week or so ago, can only make one wonder whether he has a substance abuse problem or the beginnings of some sort of organic brain disease).

I wouldn't vote for him in the primaries if I was you.

[SloopJonB]

I have reached the age where I temporarily forget things I have known for a loooong time BUT a Presidential candidate forgetting a principal policy point during a campaign???

If he plans something as radical as the elimination of a major government department, he damn well better ALWAYS have its name at his fingertips (or maybe just written on his palm?).

[Sailormon6]

Originally Posted by SloopJonB

I have reached the age where I temporarily forget things I have known for a loooong time BUT a Presidential candidate forgetting a principal policy point during a campaign???

If he plans something as radical as the elimination of a major government department, he damn well better ALWAYS have its name at his fingertips (or maybe just written on his palm?).

I can certainly understand that point of view, but I've been there, and it can happen to anyone. I have drawn a blank while making oral argument in appellate courts in cases that I had researched, studied and argued repeatedly for more than a year, and that was long before I was old enough to have senior moments. People need to understand that candidates for public office are human beings, like the rest of us, and we all suffer human frailties. I know it's hard to imagine, but they get wax in their ears, and perspire, and they even fart; and, they have memory lapses. Thoughtful people don't reject a serious candidate simply because he exhibits a human frailty.