New Hampshire speech puts Rick Perry on defensive





By REID J. EPSTEIN | 11/4/11 5:08 AM EDT

Rick Perry owes Herman Cain a debt of gratitude.

Thanks to the ongoing Cain drama, the Texas governor has largely escaped heavy media scrutiny for a seemingly unusual speech he delivered last Friday in New Hampshire.

The speech, delivered to a group of social conservatives, hardly drew notice at the time. But in the week since Perry gave it, it’s become an Internet sensation — and not in a good way. The unexpected gusto with which he offered his remarks, and his strangely animated style, were captured in an unflattering eight-minute video collection of clips that has already been viewed over a million times on You Tube.

The way the video was cut suggests he was impaired — and Perry has been forced to spend the week denying it.

On Wednesday, Perry told the San Francisco Chronicle he was not under the influence of alcohol or medication at the time. “I’ve probably given 1,000 speeches. There are some that have been probably boring, some that have been animated, some that have been in between,â€