Perry on the defense

How can one possibly recover from Perry's latest embarrassing debate performance? Maggie Haberman praises the swift response of the campaign, echoing Republicans:

It may not ultimately work, but it's the best they can do right now. Because at the end of the day, Team Perry is selling a product that voters have not been moving to buy. To some extent, Perry has a Tim Pawlenty problem - a team of terrific caliber, a strong organization, and a candidate who voters aren't buying. That may change, and Perry is currently running, as Ben and I noted today, with humility - something that could appeal to voters more than the swagger has. But the adage still holds that it's the candidate's job to get the candidate elected, and right now, his team is doing the best it can do.

Dan Amira has doubts about the effectiveness of any response, even a good one:

This was far from the first time Perry has demonstrated his less-than-impressive communicative abilities. In fact, the man seems nearly incapable of speaking off-the-cuff with precision and clarity. (Rote cliches that have absolutely nothing to do with the question being asked don't count.) That doesn't necessarily mean he'd be a bad president, but it does mean he'd probably be a bad presidential nominee. After last night, everyone knows it, and all the humility in the world can't change that.