GOP Leaders Defend Rick Perry Against 'Drunk Speech' Rumor

Jennifer Horn and other prominent New Hampshire Republicans today rallied to Rick Perry's defense, holding a news conference to steer the conversation away from persistent rumors that the GOP presidential candidate was "under the influence" during last week's Cornerstone Action fundraising dinner in Manchester.

"We are speaking up to say that, while we are all undecided – none of us has endorsed him – we were in the room during the speech, and we saw absolutely nothing about Rick Perry's bahavior, on or off the stage, to indicate he was under the influence," said Horn, of Nashua.

She defended Perry during a brief press conference at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, flanked by Bill O'Brien, New Hampshire State Speaker of the House; Kevin Smith, former executive director of Cornerstone Policy Research; Shannon McGinley, Cornerstone board chair; Liz Christoffersen, a longtime conservative political strategist; and Andrew Cernota, Nashua Area City GOP Committee Chair.

Horn said although it's been nearly a week since Perry spoke during the gala event at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, continued inquiries from national news outlets including FOX and CNN, prompted the group to address the swirl of suspicion over Perry's sobriety.

Fueling the controversy, an eight-minute edited version of Perry's 25-minute address on YouTube, which highlights excerpts of Perry's remarks that feature him joking, speaking and gesturing with more verve than he has exhibited during televised debates.

Perry defended his fervor, telling the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this week that it was a "typical" speech for him, and denied he had been drinking prior to the event, or under the influence of any alcohol or pain killers.

Horn said their timing in thwarting such rumors is twofold. As the pace of primary campaigning ramps up and scrutiny heightens around leading GOP contenders, avoiding distractions and sticking to issues is crucial.

"One, we believe truth and integrity is worth defending. Those kinds of accusations can stick to a candidate, and we believe any candidate that comes to the first-in-the-nation state and executes a credible campagn deserves a fair shot," Horn said.

"And secondly, Barack Obama has failed. We want to get the conversation back to the issues," Horn said. "This kind of distraction is destructive to process. It's time to get back on message. We need to debate policy and solutions, not rumors."

As for Perry's 25-minute speech, Horn posted on her Facebook page during the speech that Perry "was on fire," and "by far the best and strongest I have ever seen him."

Today, Horn characterized Perry during the speech as animated and articulate.

"His speech was clear and coherent. Rick Perry seemed relaxed. It's been nearly a week. It's kind of ridiculous to hear people talking about whether he was drunk," she said. "What I want people to talk about is that Barack Obama has no plan for fixing this economy and putting Americans back to work, and Rick Perry is one of seven Republicans that do.

"For me, this was about preserving the integrity of our Primary process."

You can watch both the edited version and full version of Perry's speech by clicking on the included YouTube video link icons.