TJ Walker reviews Rick Perry's exit from the 2016 presidential race and attributes its failure largely to a widely broadcast 2011 debate gaffe (the "Department of Oops" line), arguing that some mistakes can permanently define a public figure. He contrasts Perry's situation with politicians like Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama—whose strong subsequent performances helped their careers—and emphasizes the critical importance of preparation, rehearsal, and media training for leaders.
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Rick Perry becomes the first major presidential candidate to drop out of the race. Okay, folks, I'm not a political seer. I don't always get it right. But I did get this right. When Rick Perry announced he was running for president a while back, a second time a while back, I predicted candidly that he would go nowhere. And the reason was because of that one moment in the political debate in 2011 when he said, as President, I will eliminate the following three government agencies, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Oops. And it was the single worst moment in the history of. Of televised political debates. And I predicted at the time that life might not be fair, but his political career would never overcome that. It's just simply impossible because it had such a Spotlight. It's like O.J. simpson trying to run for office. Now, I'm not really equating saying Oops with murder, but at some point, something so clearly defines you, it's the only, only thing anyone is ever going to think about you. Now, the hard part here is really figuring out what's the difference between having one bad night and something that defines your career. Bill Clinton, for example, famously bombed when he gave the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic convention. Didn't exactly destroy his political career. He went on to get the Democratic nomination and win the presidency four years later. But with Clinton example, he went out the very next day and did a great job on talk shows and gave great speeches every day thereafter. The problem Rick Perry had is this Oops moment helped magnify what many people thought was his greatest weakness. That he really wasn't very bright, that he really wasn't very inquisitive, that he didn't have the depth of to be President of the United States. And even though he went on to give a lot of good speeches after that, most of you probably haven't seen it. But I've actually seen Rick Perry give great presentations, speeches, briefings, media appearances. He can be quite good. It just didn't matter. That was the only thing that people are going to remember. And unfortunately, you have to know when to throw in your cards and try a different profession. At some point, if you do something and you blow up and it becomes something where the entire world has seen it again and again and again and again. You've got to try something else. Now, I have no doubt that Rick Perry, if he wanted to become a wildly successful business person, he could do that. If he wanted to take over an oil company, he could probably do that. He could certainly become one of the largest real estate developers in Texas. If he wanted to be, he could serve in the cabinet as secretary of Commerce. Well, that's probably one he said he'd eliminate. But he could serve in somebody's cabinet if there's a Republican administration. So I don't mean to sound like he should just stay at home and watch TV the rest of his life. But folks, this is why politicians, political leaders, civic leaders, business leaders have to put so much importance in preparing, training and rehearsing for major speeches and media opportunities. Because one great speech can actually make your career. A case can be made that Ronald Reagan's entire career was made from his 1964 Republican Party nominating speech. Governor, campaign, presidential campaign, all stemmed from that. Barack Obama, the 2004 campaign, the Democratic convention made his whole career. But if one great speech can make your career, one awful speech, one awful media appearance can in fact destroy your career. And that is exactly what happened to Rick Perry.
