Texas Gov. Rick Perry spoke for the Republicans and gave a well-received speech in which he panned his own unsuccessful presidential campaign. He noted that he was once, briefly, the front-runner for the Republican nomination: “It was the three most exhilarating hours of my life.”

But, he noted, he stumbled soon enough. “Here’s the hardest part for me,” he said. “Weakest Republican field in history and they kicked my butt.” He suggested part of his problem may have been that he has a college degree in animal husbandry. “Animal husbandry,” he deadpanned. “That sounds like what Rick Santorum thinks gay marriage leads to.”

Mr. Perry also got a jab in at GOP front-runner Mitt Romney and his wealth, saying that standing next to him on debate stages “I kept waiting for him to say, ’Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?’”