Did you catch the incredible gaffe by Mitt Romney yesterday in Nevada? Did you hear how a Republican crowd booed the mention of John McCain? Probably not.
So let me share:
[Romney] ended up, maybe unwittingly, criticizing the Bush administration.
"I don’t want the guys who ran the Katrina cleanup running my health care, I can tell you that," Romney said.
A knock against universal health care turns into a reminder about the competence (and lack thereof) of the Republican party.
It got even better (or worse, if you're a Gooper).
In opening remarks before Romney took the stage, a Nevada legislator made a strategic error — or at least overestimated the unity in the room.
In trying to rev up the crowd, state Assemblyman Lynn Stewart asked whether there were any Republicans in the auditorium, and received a strong response. But when he asked if there were any McCain Republicans out there, boos filtered back through the cheers. He quickly followed by asking about Romney Republicans, and then brought the crowd to its feet by asking whether there were any McCain-Romney Republicans out there.
So, a major gaffe by a leading Vice-Presidential contender, and a crowd booing the name of their nominee. Oh, and the only thing that brought the crowd back was the mention of a Romney VP nomination.
If this was the Democratic party, the media would be ALL OVER THIS.
If Hillary had done a rally that accidentally blamed the Democrats for one of the worst disasters, if her crowd had booed Obama and Biden - we'd have breaking news everywhere. Pat Buchanan would be on cloud nine.
But it's the Republicans, and it goes against the pre-written story line.
Will the GOP come together in Minneapolis? Will there be unity? Will the Romney faction accept it if he's not the nominee?
Keep repeating those questions. Because the media won't.
crossposted at Strategy 08.