Jan Brewer Starts Badly, Finishes Worse, In Last Night's Arizona Gubernatorial Debate (VIDEO)

Last night, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer got down to debatin' with her opponent, Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard, and Ben Smith has video of Brewer's opening statement which could charitably be called a "complete and utter disaster." Brewer's inability to, you know -- introduce herself, thank the debate sponsors, and welcome viewers at home -- hit a snag when her train of thought derailed, leaving dead-air gaps that rival any of the ones on the Arizona-Mexico border.

WATCH:

It's like she forgot her book report was due or something! After the debate, things didn't get any better, after a reporter asked her why she wouldn't recant some insane claims she'd previously made about "beheadings in the desert," Brewer responded by pretending the question wasn't even asked. Then, as every single reporter in the room piled on, she opted to flee, back the way she'd come. [H/T: Tucson Citizen]

WATCH:

Does Jan Brewer, in her opening statement, qualify as a "headless body?"

UPDATE: Great research and insight from Brad Phillips at Mr. Media Training, who pulls out a similar moment from the not-too-distant past:

Ms. Brewer's gaffe is reminscent of one made by Jeanine Pirro, a candidate who briefly ran for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat in 2005. From New York Magazine:

Her most humiliating moment came right at the beginning, during her announcement: the now-famous 32 seconds of silence when she tried to find a misplaced page in her speech. It was the kind of horrifying who-am-I-and-why-am-I-here mishap that anyone who speaks in public has nightmares about. Suddenly, Pirro became a punch line.

Will Gov. Brewer become a punch line now? Yes, at least for a few days. The bigger question is whether it will irrevocably damage her political career (as it did for Ms. Pirro), or whether she will be able to recover. She can start helping her chances by immediately displaying a sense of humor about the gaffe.

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Comments

[paulabflat]

12:26 PM on 09/21/2010

a sense of humor? conservatives have no sense of humor. come on!

[George Bareford]

02:14 PM on 09/13/2010

Jan Brewer in the best Cindy Brady moment I can recollect, minus the curls, naturally.

[za101]

01:00 PM on 09/08/2010

silly reporter.

u asked the governor to recant the statement.

u should have asked the governor whether she REFUDIATES the beheading.

:)

[Dare To Dream]

10:17 PM on 09/07/2010

Jan Brewer in her "Forest Gump" VOICE after the debate:

JAN BREWER: After this debate, I am pretty tired... I think I'll go home Jenny. (Jan turning away from reporters)

REPORTER: Jan, hold on, hold on, can you answer the question please, what about the beheadings in the dessert?

JAN BREWER: For no particular reason after the debate, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Arizona. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Arizona. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just keep right on going. When I had to go... you know... I went.

[Dare To Dream]

09:56 PM on 09/07/2010

Jan woke up with the worst hang over
The party’s over and she's STILL NOT sober
The audience looks over at her, she look’s into the TV
As far as she can remember, she can't remember honestly

Her words start to slur, its all over for her
We know Jan's on that liquid courage
and right now she on the verge, to order another round
(gulp) its going down, its going down

Take that to the head, go ahead, order another round

[Adam Warrenchak]

07:22 PM on 09/07/2010

do you think when she was sitting there looking into the camera she thought to herself, "just look em dead in the eye, smile :) and chuckle and everything will be fine"??? lol.

[SionShankel]

12:31 PM on 09/07/2010

Wow, that was the worst case of camera/stage fright I have seen since High School debate and drama classes.

[chaya]

11:59 AM on 09/07/2010

This is excellent. Once again the American voter is shown clear evidence of what kind of people espouse radical right-wing policies: people with mental problems. Alcohol, drugs, senility, or just plain ignorance.

The brain: use it or lose it.

[essbird]

10:53 AM on 09/07/2010

She appears to base her policies on right-wing Internet chain letters. Scary.

[paulabflat]

12:36 PM on 09/21/2010

i couldn't put my finger on it......

thanks.

[SarahhJ]

06:08 PM on 09/26/2010

When I saw her gaffe, my first thought was, her earpiece went out, and because she can't think for herself, she couldn't finish the sentence of whoever was feeding her the lines.
Sarah James http://www.decordesigns.net

[isaidit]

10:51 AM on 09/07/2010

Amazing. She is.

[Yikes11]

09:56 AM on 09/06/2010

Does Jan have a drinking problem, or is she self-medicating? Hmmm, something tells me it is either one or the other.

[Joe Bigg]

04:59 PM on 09/05/2010

After looking at the video again now I believe she was drunk.

No one can forget that much in such a short time and not be sauced.

[madusher]

11:58 AM on 09/05/2010

Like most conservative women she almost seems brain damaged. Unable to articulate, debate, think on her toes. I've never seen this women talk before, but if Arizona re-elects her that state should be given to Mexico as a freebee.

[Nealo]

11:55 AM on 09/05/2010

Look, I've frozen up and lost my train of thought before. I'm really not ready to jump on her about that. What I find preposterous (and worthy of ridicule) is her performance AFTER the debate when she turned tail and ran from reporters questions. That's the kind of thing that makes someone unfit for office, not losing your train of thought (which I and most anyone I know has done at one time or another).

[Rickfors]

11:58 AM on 09/05/2010

http://www.kpho.com/news/24362212/detail.html
It wasn't the first time.

[sector1463]

02:31 PM on 09/05/2010

Don't you love it when reporters report the news instead of reporting the press releases from the governor or president?

[Dare To Dream]

09:29 PM on 09/07/2010

As a leader of her state, any state, she should be able to THINK of her feet and come up with fillers if she forgot her talking points. More importantly is she is committed to the very issues she is trying to get voters to believe, then those are things she should KNOW !

[avg american]

11:35 AM on 09/05/2010

When I saw her gaffe, my first thought was, her earpiece went out, and because she can't think for herself, she couldn't finish the sentence of whoever was feeding her the lines.

[paulabflat]

12:39 PM on 09/21/2010

interesting......