By the time this is published the story will have been long declared dead.

Rick Perry, who came into the race three months ago with a bad rap on debates, has surpassed his critics’ wildest expectations.

Analysis will later point to Perry’s moment on the stage, drawing a Brewerian blank while trying to name the third federal program he’d cut, as the night his hootenanny ended.

But they’re wrong. In truth Perry’s campaign has been sinking for some time. The Southern Galileo, long abandoned by the Tea Party, has been slogging through strange and insignificant stump speeches for the past two weeks.

That elusive third spear on his trident of federal cuts (“Department of Energy” for the sadomasochists keeping track at home) was only symptomatic of Perry’s biggest shortcoming: he just wasn’t ready.

As excruciating were the pauses while he wracked his mind for something...anything…to help him tap dance out of this void, the GOP voters were also breathing a sigh of relief. Perry wasn’t the path to the White House, at least not this time around, and the less energy spent fretting over his potential, the better their chances. 

“That’s right, ‘oops’” thought Perry’s biggest fundraisers.

Perhaps lost in the gasping wind escaping the forum in Oakland University, Michigan were two points that dictated the momentum of the evening: one, Herman Cain is taking a defiant stand against his allegations of sexual harassment.

The debate was billed as a frank discussion about the economy, yet it would have been remiss for the CNBC moderators (more on them later) to avoid the issue of Cain’s now four public accusations of sexual harassment while he headed the National Restaurant Association.

Mr. Cain, whose shaky handling of the controversy suggests at the very least a PR team in disarray, was poised to swat down the question. His answer, “for every one person that comes forward with a false accusation, there are…thousands who would say none of that sort of activity ever came from Herman Cain,” was a scant improvement.

Ten million staunch feminists believing that Cain would never harass a woman don’t amount to much if even one accuser's story is true.

The audience, however, groaned during the question, buoying a confidence in Cain that belies his persistent, unconvincing narrative.

It was with this temerity, no, chutzpah, that he found it acceptable later to brand Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, “Princess Nancy.” 

He later backed off the remark, saying he may have taken things a bit too far. It’s clear though that Cain remains unchastened by the accusations and is willing to plow ahead when he’s feeling feisty. Even if the charges are untrue, which they may well be, it won’t be the last time something in Cain’s past is dredged up to the court of public opinion. And in a post-Perry world, the GOP may rather avoid the loose cannon candidate.

The other bright spot on the night was the lively and trenchant debate moderation by Maria Bartiromo and John Hardwood. They were joined by a self-described “all-star lineup of the smartest people on CNBC,” which at times included commentator Jim Cramer and Steve Liesman.

They felt on home turf discussing the economy, and chided the candidates when any began drifting away from the questions and into the platitudes. On a day when the Dow tumbled 400-plus points and Italy’s economy hung by a hair, they looked for specific answers from the candidates, and, of course, this being a debate, got very few.

Cramer, who was incorrectly branded an anti-populist voice after his spat with Jon Stewart, seemed particularly incensed by the economic isolationist views on the stage. The vigor with which he laid into Cain for giving a weak answer on how to stabilize the volatile stock market, makes you wistful for his contributions to the world of business journalism if he just gave up his toy box of sound effects.

Newt Gingrich, who is riding a small wave of opinion that he could be nearing his own moment, tussled the most with the moderators. His plan--which rarely deviates beyond grip the lectern, attack the questioner, and act above it all--faltered under the back and forth. His attempt to embarrass Bartiromo for asking the candidates to sum up their health care reforms in 30 seconds backfired when she pressed the former speaker for his own policies, eliciting a stumbling response.

If Gingrich is to be the “thinker candidate” his backers want, he’ll need to drop the cantankerous shtick in favor of some memorable policy proposals. And not ones that involve the College of the Ozarks.

So once again, the man standing the tallest (or the least gaffe-y) was Mitt Romeny. Looking worn, slightly puffy, and with even a few hairs noticeable out of place, his was hardly a command performance. Again he treaded into dangerous waters on China, calling them currency manipulators and hinting at a trade war (Jon Huntsman was NOT amused).

In a stronger field, Romney’s unremarkable and, dare we say it, human, showing would have been a prime opening for the competitors. The GOP family is a troubled one now, and the key to the night was non-implosions. As the primary draws closer, it’s just looking less and less likely that anyone will mount a sustained threat to his ascendance. A cautious Republican, wary of the Perry “Oops” could find himself in an arranged marriage with Romney fast. 

If never to fall in love, at least to avoid an “oops…I did it again.”

Reach Tom Dotan here