海角大神

It鈥檚 not quite up there with 鈥渢he private sector is doing fine.鈥� Nevertheless, it will almost certainly be coming soon to an attack ad near you.

President Obama鈥檚听statement, made at a campaign rally in Virginia last weekend, that 鈥渋f you鈥檝e got a business, you didn鈥檛 build that. Somebody else made that happen鈥� provided an opening for the Romney campaign to hit the president at what they are presenting as his weakest spot 鈥� his failure to understand business and the economy.

Mitt Romney ridiculed the line on the campaign trail Tuesday:

鈥淭o say that Steve Jobs didn鈥檛 build Apple, that Henry Ford didn鈥檛 build Ford Motor, that Papa John didn鈥檛 build Papa John Pizza, that Ray Kroc didn鈥檛 build McDonald鈥檚, that Bill Gates didn鈥檛 build Microsoft is not just foolishness, it is insulting to every entrepreneur,鈥� Mr. Romney said.

Examined in context, it鈥檚 pretty clear what the president was trying to say. As numerous media outlets have noted, it鈥檚 really a flubbed version of the famous Elizabeth Warren 鈥渢here is nobody in this country who got rich on his own鈥� speech that went viral last fall. Like Ms. Warren, Obama was making the argument that 鈥渨ealthy, successful Americans鈥� should pay a higher tax rate because they didn鈥檛 get to where they are without a lot of help from society. The line right before 鈥測ou didn鈥檛 build that鈥� was about roads and bridges 鈥� making it pretty clear that it was infrastructure the president was referring to, not businesses.

But the way it came out, it played right into the Romney campaign鈥檚 overall narrative about the president鈥檚 failure to understand how business and private enterprise work. .

And of course, that鈥檚 really what makes a gaffe a gaffe. If Romney鈥檚 primary point of attack against the president were something different 鈥� say, on cultural issues or foreign affairs 鈥� then the line may well have passed by unnoticed.

But when a candidate says something that seems to amplify the main argument against them, then it鈥檚 gold for the opposition.

Consider the Romney gaffes that have so far been immortalized in the campaign: 鈥淐orporations are people,鈥� 鈥淚 like being able to fire people,鈥� or 鈥淚鈥檓 not concerned about the very poor.鈥� All those remarks had a different 鈥� and more sympathetic 鈥� meaning in context, too. But in isolation, they played right into the Democrats' portrayal of Romney as being a heartless, out-of-touch capitalist who鈥檚 on the side of the rich, not average Americans.

Most of the time, Obama carefully balances his arguments about tax fairness and the role of government with other references to the importance of individualism. His stump speeches are typically peppered with lines like 鈥渨e鈥檙e not a country that believes in handouts, we believe in working for what we get,鈥� and听鈥渨e believe in individual initiative and self-reliance.鈥� Last week, in Iowa, he said: 鈥淲e love folks getting rich.听I hope Malia and Sasha go out there and if that鈥檚 what they want to do, that鈥檚 great."

But with the 鈥測ou didn鈥檛 build that鈥� line, Obama inadvertently helped feed his opponent's narrative that his real faith lies in the power of government, not private enterprise. And it gave Romney a chance to get back on offense.