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Debate performance could hurt Perry in P5

Posted Sep 24, 2011 by William March

Updated Sep 24, 2011 at 02:57 PM

Rick Perry’s widely criticized performance in Monday night’s debate is hurting him at least some in holding onto delegate support for the Presidency 5 straw poll.

Perry delegate Bill Bunting, the Pasco County GOP state committeeman, said the Perry forces have been doing damage control successfully, but still have lost some delegates.

One strategy they’ve adopted: convincing wavering Perry backers to vote for Herman Cain rather than Perry’s strongest competitor, Mitt Romney.

“I think Cain’s going to do better than some people expected,” partly because of that, Bunting said. “Some are saying they may not vote for Perry, but they’ll vote for Cain because he was respectful during the debate.”

Cain just spoke to the crowd of delegates at P5, and got wild applause.

During the debate, the Texas governor flubbed a few of his pre-prepared comeback lines when other candidates, particularly Romney and Michele Bachmann, attacked hiim over Social Security and immigration. Since becoming the frontrunner shortly after he entered the race, Perry has been the subject of unrelenting attacks on those issues.

Bunting said the Perry forces are still hoping for a win—Perry led in a Quinnipiac University poll of Republicans earlier in the week, but tied with Romney in a poll by GOP consultant Alex Patton.