Although I did not have the pleasure of watching the Republican debate live I have managed to catch a few clips, and what I am looking at is not pretty. I have never seen a major candidate implode like Rick Perry did on a couple of different occasions. And where is that deer in the headlights look coming from? Going to have to lay much blame on the campaign, as well as the candidate, for insufficient debate prep. The Perry campaign apparently forgot “The 7 Ps”, which is “Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance”.

The Republican reaction has been one of horror. Over at “The Weekly Standard” Bill Kristol said:

But no front-runner in a presidential field has ever, we imagine, had as weak a showing as Rick Perry. It was close to a disqualifying two hours for him.

From Erick Erickson over at Red State:

Rick Perry is a horrible debater. If you did not think so before last night, you must now concede the point.

And I must save the very best for last. A couple of tweets from Republican strategist Mike Murphy are the cream of the crop. While watching the last debate he uncorked this one:

Wow. That last Perry bit was painful; looked like The Great Walender trying to cross the high wire after a three day meth bender.

And of course the week before Murphy was watching the prior Republican debate, and he let this one rip:

“Listening to Perry try to a put a complicated policy sentence together is like watching a chimp play with a locked suitcase…”

Ouch! Some great stuff from Murphy, who pointed out on the Morning Joe show that his twitter pic has him holding a very large adult beverage, which may have been a contributing factor to his tweets. If true I say keep imbibing. It is leading to some hilarious material.

Tough week for Perry, good week for Romney. Chris Christie anyone?