Rick Perry's 'Oops' By The Numbers

It's safe to say every time he opened his mouth, his numbers dropped

When Texas Governor Rick Perry threw his cowboy hat in the ring that is the Republican presidential nominee race, he had knees shaking. He had an ominous presence at the August debate, and he wasn't even there. He damn near entered the race in first place without uttering a word. But when he did utter, people listened. He called the leader of the free world a "black cloud" and in the same breath threatened Fed president Ben Bernake that something "ugly" might happen to him if he printed more money.

But, since then Perry's poll numbers have dropped almost as fast as the temperature. It's because the man doesn't seem to know how to perform in debates. And after this week's "oops" gaffe, where he forgot what government program he'd get rid of if he were elected president, some are saying that he might as well drop out of the race altogether. Loop 21 went back looked at Perry's numbers over the last few months and broke down how his sorry debate performances can be directly linked to his downward slide.

According to a USA Today/Gallup poll taken in September, Perry had 31% of the country backing him in support, placing him ahead of perennial front-runner Mitt Romney who raked in 24%. His numbers were so strong at this point that when the same pollsters were asked who they would vote for, Perry or Barack Obama, 45% of the country said Perry, just 5 percentage points behind the incumbent who had 50% support at the time.

That's all the support Perry could muster in September's Florida P5 Straw poll where Herman Cain earned a shocking 37%, marking the start Cain-mania. This pretty much signaled nothing but rough times ahead for Perry, who didn't help matters by continuing to give lackluster debate performances. 

By early-October Perry saw his initial support ratings dwindle to 16%. After entering the race in first place, he wound up losing over half of his support and found himself tied for second with Cain. 

"Niggerhead please." Not sure how much of the black vote Perry was getting but he pretty much lost all of it as well as everyone elses after it was revealed that he used to lease a Texas ranch that was nicknamed "Niggerhead" back in the day. The revelation proved to be damning as a New Hampshire poll in October showed that he only garnered 8% support in the state after the news broke.

As of this week, Perry's national poll numbers have dropped to just 11% placing him in fourth place overall. Why? Because at the most recent GOP debate, he promised to cut three government programs ... thing is he just can't quite remember that third one. Could be Social Security, could be welfare, could be FHA loans, hey you never know with this guy. On top of all that he said the one word that just might be worst than a curse word during a debate, "oops."

So what can be said about all of this? Easy. Perry stood a better chance of being president when people only saw him as the tall guy with nice hair. Before he started opening his mouth he was in the lead. Now, the more he talks, the bigger hole he digs for himself.