Romney Etch A Sketch: Is aide's comment a present for his foes?
Has Mitt Romney鈥檚 campaign inadvertently provided opponents the perfect phrase with which to attack the former Massachusetts governor? That鈥檚 the question in the wake of the 鈥�Etch A Sketch鈥� comment by senior Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom on CNN.
Asked whether Mr. Romney had moved too far to the right for the general election, Mr. Fehrnstrom said that the GOP hopeful would hit a reset button for the fall campaign. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like an Etch A Sketch,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can kind of shake it up and restart it all over again.鈥�
For Romney, Sketch-gate has overshadowed what should have been the triumphant aftermath of an Illinois primary victory. Romney鈥檚 primary opponents immediately seized upon the image of an erasable toy to project their doubts about the depths of Romney鈥檚 conservatism. Both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich held up Etch A Sketches at rallies on Wednesday.
鈥淭eam Romney says if Mitt is GOP nominee, he鈥檒l hit reset button for gen election. Where does that leave conservatives?鈥� tweeted Mr. Santorum on Thursday.
Conservative activists who have long resisted Romney鈥檚 likely nomination bemoaned the fact that it is only now, so late in the game, that they have found an analogy that perfectly expresses their doubts about his beliefs.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been at a loss to encapsulate our opposition into a one-liner; a bumper sticker,鈥� on聽the conservative RedState blog on Thursday. 鈥淎fter all, it takes copious pages of ink to explain the extent of Romney鈥檚 hypocrisy on the issue of healthcare alone. Yet, late in the 11th hour of the campaign, when it鈥檚 probably too late to make a difference, we have finally discovered our symbol that exemplifies Romney.鈥�
If nothing else, perhaps now the Romney team will stop demanding that the right get on board their train and provide some reasons to believe that Romney鈥檚 conservative positions won鈥檛 get shaken off like a kid's drawing in September, Mr. Horowitz said.
Meanwhile, gleeful Democrats were making much the same point about the power of the Etch A Sketch image.
On the blog of liberal talk-show host Rachel Maddow, contributor that Romney aide Fehrnstrom should simply have said, 鈥淩omney is a mainstream conservative, and there鈥檚 nothing extreme about his vision for America.鈥�
Instead, he鈥檚 hampered Romney with a line that will be tough to live down, according to Mr. Benen.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the kind of line that reinforces the worst possible fears about Mitt Romney鈥檚 entire candidacy 鈥� he doesn鈥檛 even care what he鈥檚 saying to voters right now, because it鈥檒l all be thrown out the window in a few months anyway,鈥� he writes.
Wow. Both left and right agree: The Etch A Sketch thing is deadly. So they must be right, right?
Well, only if the general election were, say, this week. That鈥檚 our theory, and we鈥檙e sticking with it.
Yes, small things can quickly become big things in today鈥檚 political news cycle, which moves at the speed of iPad apps. Make one small slip and the next thing you know, you鈥檝e got a full-blown flap on your hands. Voters are prone to think that small things such as the Etch A Sketch comment provide them a window into the real life of candidates, in his The Fix blog at The Washington Post.
But what enters the news cycle can exit it just as fast, pushed out by the latest juicy gaffelet. Three words will illustrate our point: Santorum Satan speech. Remember when that was going to sink his candidacy? Oh ... right. He is now pretty far behind, but we鈥檇 argue that it wasn鈥檛 the speech per se that made him lose Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois after leading polls in all three states.
We鈥檙e big believers in the , created some years ago by writer Bruce Feiler. It holds that the increasing pace of the news cycle is matched by the public鈥檚 ability to process and inculcate new bits of information. So the whole process is speeded up, including the getting-over-it part.
We agree with the eminent pundit Larry Sabato, political science professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
鈥淭he 鈥楨tch-A-Sketch鈥� incident is going in my next issue of 鈥楩eeding Frenzy鈥�. Sound & fury signifying very little,鈥� Thursday.
He also complained about the Etch A Sketch getting 鈥渄ragged thru mud鈥� in the whole affair.
鈥淏ig part of my childhood,"聽he wrote on his Twitter account. "Proved to me I had no artistic talent.鈥�
