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Is it time to start anticipating a Mitt Romney comeback?

When we ask this, we are by no means discounting what has been perhaps the worst stretch of the campaign for Mr. Romney to date. It鈥檚 been so bad that political observers (including many Republicans) have gone in the past few weeks from calling the race a dead heat 鈥� as they have virtually all year 鈥� to declaring Romney an official underdog.

But Romney鈥檚 bad stretch has been going on for so long now 鈥� with his campaign lurching from gaffe to gaffe, while outside Republicans snipe and wring their hands 鈥� that it just seems like, at some point soon, the narrative鈥檚 got to change.

Call it a law of presidential politics: Reporters who cover campaigns can only write the same story (鈥淩omney is losing!鈥� 鈥淣ow he鈥檚 really losing!鈥�) so many times before they start looking for a new angle.聽And often, voters start to root for the underdog.

Some of the pieces for a potential Romney comeback may already be in place.

For one thing, while the polling in a number of swing states has shifted in President Obama鈥檚 favor, that shift has also been small 鈥� hardly an insurmountable deficit for Romney to overcome. The media has given the polls a lot of attention because it鈥檚 the first time either candidate has seemed to hold a true lead, in a race where polling has generally been pretty static.

But already, many observers are calling for a reality check 鈥� particularly since some national polls seem to be closing again, with Gallup鈥檚 daily tracking poll today giving Mr. Obama just a 1-point lead.聽As ABC News's Rick Klein : "National tracking polls have the race back to its pre-convention virtual tie, and the battleground state polls for the most part have Obama leads inside the margin of error. All of which means we could be just a few news cycles away from the Romney comeback 鈥� and all that panic would be running to the other side."

In addition, As Decoder鈥檚 Peter Grier wrote Wednesday morning, some conservatives now seem to be circling the wagons (though others are exhibiting something verging on despair). Many are encouraging Romney to turn his latest 鈥済affe鈥� 鈥� his secretly recorded comments at a fundraiser, calling 47 percent of Americans 鈥渧ictims鈥� who are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives 鈥� into a rallying cry. By drawing a clear contrast between himself and President Obama on the issue of government dependency, some argue Romney could actually come out stronger.

Last but not least, we'll say this outright: Romney has a great chance to win the debates. He's pretty much guaranteed to head into the October contests with low expectations 鈥� many Americans think of him as stiff and unlikable, a far less natural and convincing performer than Obama 鈥� which means that all he needs to do is seem slightly more personable and down-to-earth than he鈥檚 been made out to be, and it will be celebrated as a whole new Romney. And as we saw during the GOP primary season, Romney can actually be a very strong debater. If he stays on message and throws in a few good personal asides (funny and self-deprecating; no $10,000 bets) he could charm viewers and pundits anew. 聽

It may not be enough at this point, with just seven weeks left before Election Day. But we wouldn鈥檛 be at all surprised if Romney narrows the gap and makes it a race again.