With the New York Jets trading and then somehow not-trading for Tim Tebow by what seems like divine intervention(in the form of epic organizational mismanagement), you'd think Pats fan Mitt Romney would be smiling. But he's not, and it's not because the Buffalo Bills just signed former Pat Mark Anderson, it's because his campaign just had perhaps it's worst day thus far.
It was right after Florida, when Romney was complacent, that "I don't care about the very poor" came out. It's probably one of the few things about Romney that we now is true. Just ask poor poor Seamus. Now after Illinois it looks like the Romney camp got caught looking both complacent and utterly honest once again.
The difference between the gaffe by Romney and the gaffe by a top Romney campaign aide is that it does more than just make Romney look like a jackass. It confirms everyone's worst suspicions about the guy. It's a verbal confirmation by one of his top aides in charge of communication no less that Romney really doesn't have any solid positions(or principles?). It's Etch a Sketch- it's a catchy phrase, widely known, and the perfect caricature for Mitt Romney.
In the short-term, it revives conservative distrust of him. It makes the primary less than over. It is basically over, and Romney can thank Newt Gingirch(or is it Sheldon Adelson?) for splitting the conservative-base enough for Romney's divide and conquer strategy. Mormons and the rich turned out sufficient numbers(including checks) to power Mitt Romney's campaign to an inevitable victory over Santorum, as the delegate math is firmly with Romney now. But now he once again has a huge issue with the base- their worst fears of him are absolutely correct. They're being asked to support someone who's director of communication just told them all, when the primary is not close to being officially over yet, that everything he had been saying to them over the last six years or more is bullshit.
Shocking! Except this can all be summed up by "Etch a Sketch", now being embraced by Romney's conservative rivals. Just when we thought Romney was inevitable for the GOP nomination a rare moment of honesty changes everything. He probably still is inevitable, but at the end of the day the American people are going to see through the costly Etch a Sketc.