Rick Perry's Swing and Miss
Mitt Romney's famously flexible ideology isn't exactly a moving target; his shifts on issues like abortion have served as fodder for his political rivals since 2007. But given a wide-open shot at Romney's flip-flops in a Sept. 22 debate, Perry missed the mark by a mile, producing such a tangled convolution of words that the New York Times printed his answer verbatim on A1. "Is it the Mitt Romney that was on the side of against the Second Amendment before he was for the Second Amendment?" asked Perry, trying to paint a picture of two Mitt Romneys. "Was it — was before he was before the social programs, from the standpoint of he was for standing up for Roe v. Wade before he was against Roe v. Wade? He was for Race to the Top, he's for Obamacare, and now he's against it. I mean, we'll wait until tomorrow and — and — and see which Mitt Romney we're really talking to tonight." Unfortunately for his presidential ambitions, this was the only Rick Perry who showed up at the debate.