Tales from the Trail

A month ago, after a series of poor debate performances that culminated in his infamous "oops" gaffe, Rick Perry was on the defensive. “If we’re electing a ‘debater-in-chief,’ don’t elect me,” he told Megyn Kelly on America Live on Nov. 10.

Today, by contrast, in his second new ad of the day, Perry -- who trails Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich in Iowa -- is celebrating last Saturday's ABC News/Yahoo debate in Des Moines.

In the nearly two-minute-long video, titled 'Momentum,' Perry weaves together favorable reviews from observers including Chris Cillizza, Larry Sabato, RedState.org, and Tim Albrecht with miscellaneous Iowa-esque imagery and clips of Perry speaking at the debate.

Watch:

Credit: rickperry.org/YouTube

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik sounds worried about the possibility of other attacks on elected officials like Gabrielle Giffords.

Not that he’s got evidence of another shooter or anything. But Dupnik says there are thousands of people like Jared Lee Loughner, the shooting suspect described as a mentally disturbed loner.

“These people are very susceptible to emotions like anger and paranoia and so forth, and I think that the tone of rhetoric that has occurred in this country over the past couple of years affects troubled personalities,” he tells NBC’s Today show.