Rick Perry went blank for 30 seconds during GOP debate

Credit: Perry photo via Shutterstock

It was bad.  Rick Perry started talking about the three federal agencies he'd shut down, got through two of them, then couldn't come up with the third.  He just kept trying to come up with it, and couldn't.  It was pretty bad.  You can watch the video here.   Ben Smith heard from a prominent Perry supporter, who thinks it's over for Perry.

Here's the transcript:

Harwood>> Governor Perry, you play only home games in texas. Do you give him points for winning on the road?

Perry>> There is a reason that caterpillar moved their high hydraulics and in the state of texas. It does than have anything to do with the republican versus democrat. It had everything to do with creating a climate in our state where the job creators knew that they were going to have the opportunity to keep more of what they work for. That's what americans are looking for. They are looking for a tax plan that basically says you are going to be able to keep more of what you work for. They are looking for a regulatory climate that does not strangle the life out of their businesses and when they want to put those dollars out there to create the wealth. That's what americans are looking for. I think we are getting all tangled up around an issue here about can you work with democrats, c you work with republicans? Yeah, we can all do that. But the fact of the matter is we better have a plan in place that americans can get their hands around and that's a reason my flat tax is the only one of all of the folks these good folks on the stage it balance it is budget in 2020. It does the things though the regulatory climate that has to happen. And I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when i get there that are gone. Commerce, education, and the -- what's the third one there? Let's see.

Paul>> Five.

Perry>> Five. Okay. Commerce, education, and the --

Romney>> epa?

Perry>> Epa, there you go.

Harwood>> Seriously -- is epa one you are talking about?

Perry>> No, sir, no, sir. We are talking about the -- agencies of government -- epa needs to be rebuilt.

Harwood>> You can't -- you can't name the third one?

Perry>> The third agency of government I would -- I would do away with education, the --

Romney>> commerce.

Perry>> Commerce and, let's see. I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops.

So now it's down to Romney and who?  Gingrich is a nutty as ever.  Herman Cain made a sexist crack about Nancy Pelosi tonight that even the traditional media noticed.  Bachmann makes Gingrich look sane.  Huntsman is just too reasonable to ever win the GOP nomination.  So it's Mitt "If it's Tuesday, I must be pro-life" Romney, by default.