Etch-A-Sketch: Can Mitt Romney shake off his aide's Mr. Potato Head gaffe?
Is Mitt Romney an Etch-A-Sketch candidate, one whose positions can be erased with a shake, ready for a new and different drawing?
That鈥檚 an analogy that鈥檚 getting a lot of discussion today in the Washington professional political class following a comment made by senior Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom on CNN. Asked whether conservatives Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich had pushed Mr. Romney so far to the right that he鈥檒l have trouble with moderates in a general election, Mr. Fehrnstrom said that wouldn鈥檛 be a problem.
鈥淲ell, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It鈥檚 almost like an Etch-A-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart it all over again,鈥� Fehrnstrom said.
That comment 鈥� which appears to imply that Romney can forget what he鈥檚 said and take new stands in the fall 鈥� came bouncing back to whack the Romney camp faster than a SuperBall pitched against a concrete wall. The Santorum campaign sent out an email alerting reporters to Fehrnstrom鈥檚 words, claiming they鈥檙e proof that Romney is a Massachusetts moderate.
鈥淲e all knew Mitt Romney didn鈥檛 have any core convictions, but we appreciate his staff going on national television to affirm that point for anyone who had any doubts,鈥� said Santorum national communications director Hogan Gridley in .
piled on, adding via Twitter that 鈥淓tch-A-Sketch is a great toy but a losing strategy. We need a nominee w/bold conservative solutions.鈥�
Democratic strategists gleefully retweeted these remarks, hoping to sow chaos in the GOP ranks, while the blogosphere resounded with Romney critics opining as to he has in his closet: My Little Phony, Gumby, a Hot Wheels Dog Carrier, and so forth.
Very funny. But will this incident hurt Romney, or simply launch a flotilla of bad jokes? We鈥檙e guessing the latter. It鈥檒l be gone faster than you can erase a ... well, you know. Etch-A-Sketch references stop here. We promise.
Why? First of all, Romney鈥檚 had a pretty good week, in case you didn鈥檛 notice. He won the Illinois primary in a walk. Jeb Bush endorsed him, in essence saying to others in the GOP, 鈥渋t鈥檚 time to end this now.鈥�
In other words, Romney has pretty much won. All that鈥檚 left is for Santorum and Gingrich to realize that they鈥檝e become zombie candidates. Fehrnstrom鈥檚 comments won鈥檛 help rivals who have already lost.
Second, Romney鈥檚 got a rebuttal: Fehrnstrom wasn鈥檛 talking about him. The aide was talking about the fall campaign.
That鈥檚 what Fehrnstrom himself now says. He鈥檚 emailed reporters an explanation, in which he says what he meant was 鈥渁s we move from the primary to the general election, the campaign changes. It鈥檚 a different race, with different candidates, and the main issue now becomes President Obama鈥檚 failure to create jobs and get this economy moving.鈥�
Third, even if Romney does, um, recalibrate some of his past positions, that鈥檚 what most of the punditocracy expects. So they won鈥檛 treat it as any big deal.
Liberal commentator Greg Sargent pointed this out today in his at the Washington Post. A CNN panel of commentators following Fehrnstrom鈥檚 remarks took them matter-of-factly, as if they recognized business as usual, Mr. Sargent said.
鈥淚t seems likely that many commentators will forget all about Romney鈥檚 flirtation with far right positions and grant him the presumption of moderation the second he becomes the nominee,鈥� writes Sargent.
