I tucked this into last night’s QOTD but it warrants its own post now that it’s officially, er, international news. Any Texans/longtime Perry-watchers care to speculate? Ben Domenech told Ace that he’s seen Perry like this once before and thinks he was overcompensating for being tired. I don’t know; he’s been tired during the debates too and the result was … not a burst of giddy energy, to put it mildly. Maybe he was just groovin’ on the thought of leading Obama in, of all places, Wisconsin? Or maybe he realized that he’s still the default option once undecideds realize that they don’t like Romney and don’t trust a candidate as inexperienced as Cain? Or maybe he’s the guy who bet on the Cardinals back in early September? All theories welcome.

That’s the first clip. The second clip is his new ad in Iowa, in which he nudges voters not to care so much about what gets said at debates. Exit question: Perry’s numbers in New Hampshire according to the last eight polls taken are 4, 4, 6, 7, 2, 2, 4, 4. Why is he still spending time there?