Perry still at the top after debates

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The last two Republican debates have not gone well for Gov. Rick Perry

“Was it was, before he was before the social programs of the standpoint he was for standing up for Roe vs. Wade?” said Perry during the Fox News/Google Debate last week.

On Saturday, host Alec Baldwin fluffed up his hair and played Perry on television during a mock debate on "Saturday Night Live."

The host of the SNL debate asked Baldwin while playing Perry if he could speak for 10 seconds without alienating his base of supporters.

“Was it was before, before it was before,” Baldwin said before putting his head down and snoring.

“He's got to get better in the debates because, boy, he can't get worse,” said Jason Stanford , a Democratic strategist and author, who is half of the team behind a new booked called, "Adios Mofo; Why Rick Perry Will Make American Miss George W. Bush."

Stanford pointed to new poll numbers released by CNN showing Perry with a seven-point lead over Mitt Romney, even after last week's poor debate performance and even worse performance in the Florida Straw Poll.

“Anytime you can have as bad a week as he did last week and start the next week still in first place, you've actually had a good week,” said Stanford.

As far as Perry's debate performance goes, “I think he needs to figure out how to take a deep breath, deliver his line and he’ll be fine,” Stanford said.

Harvey Kronberg, editor of the Quorum Report , agreed with Stanford.

“It’s not how bad the episode was but how quickly he recovers and gets his footing again,” Kronberg said.

Kronberg said in the end, the debates will mean little to both voters and to the overall election.

“If I’m right he's going to show a huge amount of money on his finance report and that's going to wipe away all the bad news of the last four days,” said Kronberg.

Bad news that was the butt of many jokes, but in the end, many still agree it will be Perry laughing all the way to the nomination.

“He’ll either get better or he’ll just dissolve into an incompetent boob on the national stage. Nothing we’ve ever seen from Perry indicates that he is going to do that,” Stanford said.