Pool photo by Andrew Harrer

HANOVER, N.H. — If Rick Perry‘s supporters were hoping for a dynamic, energized Texas governor to fully engage with the moderators, his rivals and the audience, they were disappointed Tuesday night.

Mr. Perry hardly seized the moment at the Washington Post/Bloomberg News debate to re-energize his flagging campaign. With the exception of one tough question for Mitt Romney on health care, he did not criticize his rivals. Nor did he make a grand case for his presidential ambitions.

Instead, he stuck to a few talking points, repeatedly mentioning energy independence as a sort of catchall answer to whatever was asked.

“You need a president with a plan, which I’m laying out over the next three days, and, clearly, the intent to open up this treasure trove that America’s sitting on and getting America independent on the domestic energy side,” Mr. Perry said in answer to a question about how he would produce results in Washington.

After three debates in which Mr. Perry had been a central figure, the Texas governor seemed to fade into the background this time. The moderators asked him fewer questions, and he went long stretches without interjecting a thought or trying to steal the spotlight back. His rivals appeared to no longer view Mr. Perry as the looming political threat they once did.

While Mr. Perry has proved his advisers right when they said that he was not an accomplished debater, the truth is that presidential primary campaigns — for all the focus on televised debates and house parties in New Hampshire — are still waged and won with millions of dollars on the airwaves.

There have been almost no television commercials during 2011, but that will change soon. Mr. Perry appears to be pursuing a strategy of getting through the debates with as little political damage as possible so he can survive into the next phase of the campaign.

That next phase will probably play more to Mr. Perry’s strengths. He has a campaign war chest that is second only to Mr. Romney’s. And he has hired slick ad makers whose hard-hitting Web videos are previews of the kind of highly critical television ads that are expected to flood this state and others early on the primary calendar.

With less than three months until voting is expected to begin, the television campaigns will start soon. But it is unclear how much those ads will change the dynamic in a state like this one, where Mr. Romney holds very large leads in early polls. And Mr. Perry still has to survive the next several weeks, including yet another debate, next week in Las Vegas.

Tuesday’s performance suggested that he is unlikely to emerge from the next debate a huge winner.

Mr. Perry’s repeated answers on energy independence were the most striking part of his appearance. Asked about his overall economic plan, Mr. Perry said that “clearly, we’re going to be focused on initially the energy industry.”

To a question about trade with China, he proposed “freeing this country to go develop the energy industry that we have in this country.” And he returned to the subject when asked about health care.

“There are people sitting out there around the kitchen table watching TV tonight who are looking for someone to lay out an idea that truly will get this country back working again,” Mr. Perry said. “And that’s why I lay out, without having any Congressional impact of all, how to get our energy industry back to work, and back to work very quickly.”

After being shown a video clip of Ronald Reagan advocating new tax revenues to lower the deficit, Mr. Perry stumbled around for a few moments before settling on his answer.

“What I heard him say there, that he was willing to trade tax increases for reductions,” Mr. Perry said in an answer that was a bit confusing to follow. “And I don’t think he ever saw those reductions, he just saw the tax increase. As a matter of fact, in his diary, he made that statement that he is still looking around for those reductions.”

Mr. Perry did better when it came to defending himself against charges from Michele Bachmann that as governor he increased debt in his state.

“Texas has the second lowest debt per capita in the United States,” he said. “I think that is what America is looking for is a president of the United States that understands how to balance budgets, how to deal with the spending issue, and how to get Americans back working again. ”

But perhaps the most interesting and potentially damaging moment for Mr. Perry came when Mr. Romney managed to flip Mr. Perry’s criticisms back on him.

“You have a million kids uninsured in Texas,” Mr. Romney said. “A million kids. Under President Bush, the percentage uninsured went down. Under your leadership, it’s gone up.”

A few weeks ago, at the earlier debates, Mr. Perry might have lashed back at Mr. Romney or at least tried to vigorously defend his state.

But instead, Mr. Perry let that one slide. The moderators did not follow up. And Mr. Perry did not see fit to interject or interrupt to make points.

Mr. Perry’s campaign advisers are probably looking beyond the debates to see how and when their candidate can make his mark. They have scheduled a series of policy speeches that Mr. Perry will soon give.

And they are no doubt looking at ways to lower expectations for Mr. Perry’s future debate performances.

After Tuesday night, that might not be such a tough thing to do.