“The fact of the matter is, one error is not going to make or break a campaign. So we’re going to keep on talking about what’s important to the people of this country,” Perry told the CBS “Early Show.”

Perry suffered a mental lapse on stage with his rivals in Michigan on Wednesday night and failed to remember the third of three government agencies he has vowed to eliminate.

He cited the departments of Education and Commerce but could not bring to mind the Energy Department.

Perry, the Texas governor, said the mistake was an honest one and vowed to carry on.

“I think I made an error last night. I stepped in it. All of us make mistakes. I’m a human being. The issue here is I had a lapse of memory and so many federal agencies were coming to mind that I forgot the one I was trying to think of, which was obviously the Energy Department,” he said.

Perry’s campaign has already been in the danger zone. He opened his campaign three months ago as the front-runner, the conservative alternative to the more moderate Mitt Romney.

But a series of poor debate performances and an immigration policy that he approved in Texas that grants children of illegal immigrants college tuition assistance has damaged him.

Perry’s next chance is in South Carolina on Saturday night when Republican candidates gather for yet another debate, this one sponsored by CBS and devoted to foreign policy, which has not been a strong area for Perry.

Perry told CBS “I may not be the best debater or the smoothest politician on stage” but said he believes voters will appreciate his record of creating jobs in Texas, with the US economy the biggest issue in the 2012 campaign.

“We can talk abut style over substance all we want but Americans are looking for someone who can truly give them hope. That we can get this country back working again.

Perry’s stumble could benefit Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who is in a leading position to become the Republican presidential nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama next year.