US Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry's bid for the White House has struck another hitch, after a bizarre video of the Texas governor rambling and making jokes to a gathering of conservatives went viral on the internet.
The footage of an animated Mr Perry addressing a dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire has stirred speculation he was drunk on stage.
"This is such a cool state. I mean, come on, live free or die. I mean, it's like, live free or die. Victory or death. Bring it," he said.
A montage of the most bizarre moments of the rambling 25-minute speech surfaced on YouTube.
"Today has been awesome girl. I grew up on a farm. I grew up ... I grew up on a farm," he said.
The off-the-wall performance set the commentators scrambling, with TV satirical comic Jon Stewart having a field day.
"Best case scenario, that dude's hammered. Worst case scenario, that is Perry sober and every time we've seen him previously, he's been hammered," he said.
A spokesman for Mr Perry said he was just being "passionate", but some Republican operatives say the giddy episode could prove fatal.
Wayne Slater from the Dallas Morning News said Mr Perry's advisers were struggling to find the right tone.
"What they wanted to do early on was say 'Look, you gotta be a fighter, so he was a fighter. But you gotta do well in the debates,'" he said.
"Well he didn't do well in the debates. So they're trying to train him and pick up the issues of the debates so that he does better, but now present him in a way that he doesn't look mean.
"They want to recalibrate him and make him an appealing alternative to [Mitt] Romney."
In a new advertisement just launched in Iowa, Mr Perry tries to convert his lack of polish into an asset.
"If you're looking for a slick politician or a guy with great teleprompter skills, we already have that. And he's destroying our economy. I'm a doer. Not a talker," Mr Perry says in the advert.
Mr Perry needs a strong showing in Iowa, where he currently trails in the polls, with just 7 per cent support among likely caucus goers.
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi
"Problem is, while the Germans have had many mea culpas and quite painfully dealt with their history, the South is still hellbent on painting themselves as the real victims. It gives them a special place in the history of assholes" - Covenant
"Over three million died fighting for the emperor, but when the war was over he pretended it was not his responsibility. What kind of man does that?'' - Saburo Sakai
My feelings about Governor Perry's qualifications for the role of President notwithstanding, so what if his public speaking skills suffer when he's had a few? So do everyone else's. As far as I can tell from the article (I'm not sitting through a 25-minute speech by Rick Perry no matter how amusingly smashed he is) it's a private function rather than some official duty of the office of governor, and I very much doubt he'd had more to drink than anyone else in the room.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Zaune wrote:My feelings about Governor Perry's qualifications for the role of President notwithstanding, so what if his public speaking skills suffer when he's had a few? So do everyone else's. As far as I can tell from the article (I'm not sitting through a 25-minute speech by Rick Perry no matter how amusingly smashed he is) it's a private function rather than some official duty of the office of governor, and I very much doubt he'd had more to drink than anyone else in the room.
I think the issue is (aside from pure schadenfreudian entertainment value), is that maybe someone who wants to be President of the United States should have the sense not to try public speaking when he's had a few (or not to have a few before they are scheduled to speak).
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"I salute your genetic superiority, now Get off my planet!!" -- Adam Stiener, 1st Somerset Strikers
When did this event take place? The article doesn't specify.
CotK <mew> | HAB | JL | MM | TTC | Cybertron
TAX THE CHURCHES! - Lord Zentei TTC Supreme Grand Prophet
And the LORD said, Let there be Bosons! Yea and let there be Bosoms too!
I'd rather be the great great grandson of a demon ninja than some jackass who grew potatos. -- Covenant
Dead cows don't fart. -- CJvR
...and I like strudel! -- Asuka
Yeah, having a staffer imbibe on the campaign trail is one thing - they can be fired, repirimanded, or whatever. Given the intensity of the schedules these guys have and the sheer amount of physical exhaustion associated, I don't know why any respectable candidate would decide to throw some booze into the mix. Just a recipe for disaster. By no means is it wrong for Perry to have a few, but it does betray some exceptionally poor judgement.
"A country without a Czar is like a village without an idiot."
- Old Russian Saying
lance wrote:Has he ever stated that he was drunk? I hear having a glucose imbalance can have similar symptoms
He's stated he wasn't intoxicated. Having been to political events, I'm inclined to believe him. It's the "Dean Scream" effect. Something that looks (and sounds) normal and natural in context looks (and sounds) weird out of context.
"I believe in the future. It is wonderful because it stands on what has been achieved." - Sergei Korolev
Oh Good New Hampshire is on the map again. I thought the world was politely ignoring us after the "wiggle" incident, and the "Let's ship all special needs people to Alaska debacle..
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This topic is... oh Village Idiot. Carry on then.--Havok
Honestly, I like him fractionally more now. He was pretty amusing.
"I'm sorry, you seem to be under the mistaken impression that your inability to use the brain evolution granted you is any of my fucking concern."
"You. Stupid. Shit." Victor desperately wished he knew enough Japanese to curse properly. "Davions take alot of killing." -Grave Covenant Founder of the Cult of Weber
-- Asuka
