At last week’s Tea Party debate, presumptive front-runner candidate Rick Perry took a lashing from his fellow candidates, most harshly on the issue of his controversial executive order to mandate an HPV vaccine for young girls. The issue hits Perry hard in two ways: social conservatives don’t like the idea of big government intrusion, especially into such a sensitive area of private life. And no one across the political spectrum likes the stench of crony capitalism that was all over the HPV scandal.

So has Perry put the controversy behind him by admitting in was a mistake? Doesn’t seem like it, and his rivals are now more likely than ever to pounce on the other Perry scandal that hits on the same political hot-buttons: the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Perry’s plan to build super-highways and toll roads across the state was a model of eminent domain abuse, with a million acres of private land to be taken without adequate safeguards for the landowner. Taxpayer-funded roads were to be converted into privately-operated toll roads. The plan was a windfall for developers and construction companies, and those who stood to gain gave millions to Perry’s campaign.

Just like Mike Toomey before him, former Perry staffer Dan Shelley played the role of the connected lobbyist, this time for the foreign consortium of developers who won the lucrative first contract. The revolving door kept on spinning as another Perry ally and pro-TTC lobbyist Ray Sullivan returned to his office, even as the plan remained a legislative concern.

Doing their homework before the last debate really paid off for Michelle Bachmann and Rick Santorum. If they want to hit Perry hard again, he’s given them a Texas-sized opening. Voters may soon again be hearing about Rick Perry’s stumbles with conservatives, and it won’t be about HPV.