Governor Rick Perry didn’t do himself any favors Tuesday afternoon while speaking to a crowd of young voters at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. The Boston Globe reports:
At the end of his stump speech at a town hall meeting, Perry said, “Those of you that will be 21 by November the 12th, I ask for your support and your vote. Those of you who won’t be, work hard.”The legal voting age is 18, not 21. The date of the 2012 general election is Nov. 6.
It was the latest in a series of campaign gaffes Perry has made – most notably, forgetting during a debate the name of the third federal agency he wants to cut.
Nevertheless, despite Perry’s incredibly embarrassing double gaffe, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, in 2008 then-Senator Barack Obama said he was traveling and campaigning so hard he had traveled to fifty-seven states. Later that same year, of course, he still managed to win the presidency.
The problem with Perry, though, is that the never ending string of blunders continues to undermine his candidacy. As of today, for example, he is polling on average at 9 percent nationally according to Townhall.com's Poll Tracker. Thus, if he doesn’t find a way to stop making needless errors – and soon – he will likely be unable to galvanize voters, appeal to the electorate, or win the Republican nomination. But perhaps, after this lamentable mishap, the Rick Perry campaign can finally learn from their mistakes – and avoid them at all costs in the critical weeks ahead.