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US presidential hopeful Rick Perry in 'oops' gaffe during debate

US presidential hopeful Rick Perry saw his campaign for office ripped into tatters on Wednesday night after he made an extraordinary gaffe – forgetting his own policies during a live debate.

Rick Perry, governor of Texas and one-time Republican presidential front-runner, drew amusement from the crowd during the debate in Michigan after failing to name the government agencies that he intends to overhaul as part of an economic review.

“Its three agencies of government, when I get there, that are gone,” he said. “Commerce, education and the…”

Perry then went on to stumble, prompting laughter from the audience. Repeating the agencies again he failed to name the third one before rival Mitt Romney jokingly suggested it was the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).“No seriously it isn’t, but the EPA needs to be rebuilt,” Perry added, sensing an opportunity to change the subject.

But he was then brought back to the question by CNBC moderator John Harwood, who asked: “You can’t name the third one?” Perry had a third attempt at remembering the full list before admitting, “I can’t remember, oops”.

The gaffe has left Rick Perry nursing a dent to his chances of getting the Republican vote ahead of the next US presidential election in November 2012.

Barack Obama has announced that he will run for office again to win a second term in the White House.