Rick Perry's 'Oops' Moment in Debate Threatens Campaign

The Republican hopeful faces a long, steep, battle uphill if he's going to recover from forgetting one of his central campaign planks.

Texas Governor Rick Perry's dreams of becoming president appear to be dashed once and for all, after he failed – repeatedly – to name the third federal agency that he would scrap if elected. During last night's debate of contenders vying for the Republican nomination, Perry reiterated his talking point that he would scrap the departments of education, commerce, and, well, he couldn't think of the name of the third one. Eventually, he gave up and just said, "Oops." (The answer he was looking for was "Department of Energy.") The panel of CNBC broadcasters hosting the event were incredulous, and even Perry admitted afterward that he "stepped in it." This comes less than two weeks after the swaggering Texan gave a speech to a conservative group in New Hampshire where he appeared to be a little drunk and whispered the word "awesome" to a bottle of maple syrup. Perry's camp is now trying to spin the "Oops" gaffe by asking Perry supporters what federal department they'd most like to "forget." Meanwhile, fellow candidate Herman Cain is fending off allegations that he sexually harassed four women while he was head of a restaurant lobby group, while boring middle-aged white guy Mitt Romney is laughing all the way to the nomination.