He crisscrossed from side to side to shake spectators' hands, then broke into a jog, forcing a small bunch of reporters and cameramen to run after him. Then he jumped into a Hummer and was taken back to the parade viewing stand, where he mingled with members of the military -- safely inside his comfort zone.

Perry now stands in single digits in early-state and national polls, at risk of becoming an afterthought if he weren't instead a laughingstock. His mental lapse at Wednesday's Michigan debate, when he drew a blank on the third Cabinet department he would, according to his platform, seek to eliminate, merely highlighted the precipitous fall from grace he'd already suffered in the eyes of voters.

Perry's team is hoping to get voters to take a second look at their candidate. Slick commercials are airing in Iowa, New Hampshire and on national Fox News; glossy fliers are hitting mailboxes. In South Carolina, ads funded by a pro-Perry Super PAC are all over the airwaves. A veteran of George W. Bush's political shop, Joe Allbaugh, has been brought on board and has taken a hands-on role in the campaign.

The operation feels more nimble as a result, as seen in Thursday's game-time decision to cancel a planned day of fundraisers in Tennessee in favor of damage-control national media interviews in New York, culminating in a Top 10 list on "The Late Show with David Letterman" Thursday night. On Friday, Perry planned to spend the afternoon doing local media interviews in Columbia, the beginning of what his campaign said would be a new openness to the press.

But Perry's team takes pains to avoid the impression it is panicking, and as a result an air of denial pervades it. Neither Perry nor his staff seems to have fully recognized how bad things are, how steep a hill they'll have to climb to get a second chance. Just think: Republican primary voters would sooner give the nomination to a thrice-married former Speaker of the House at this point than turn back to Perry.

Chip Felkel, a Greenville-based Republican consultant who is not working for a presidential candidate, said Perry can't be counted out, but so far all he's done is disappoint.

"Even those people who jumped early for him are not feeling a great deal of enthusiasm," Felkel said.

The rumor around the statehouse is that Gov. Nikki Haley, a skilled politician and tea party darling, came close to endorsing Perry out of the gate. Instead, she held back, praising Perry at his announcement event but saying she wanted to see all the candidates before making a choice. Now, that looks like a wise decision. (A spokesman for Haley, Rob Godfrey, denied that she came close to backing Perry and said she planned to make a decision near the end of the year. Haley does not plan to attend the presidential debate in her state Saturday.)