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Could Mitt Romney 'victims' comment be good for his campaign?

That's what some conservatives assert. The uproar over Mitt Romney's remarks that 47 percent of Americans see themselves as 'victims' and feel entitled to government support is an opportunity to emphasize how Romney differs from Obama over the role of government, they say.

Mitt Romney鈥檚 鈥渧ictims鈥� tape is bad news for his campaign, runs Washington鈥檚 conventional wisdom. It doesn鈥檛 do to dismiss 47 percent of America as too dependent on government, in this view, and it鈥檚 even worse to say 鈥淸my] job is not to worry about those people.鈥�

Democrats are gleeful about what they judge to be an electoral game-changer. Some Republicans are running for cover 鈥� Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, for instance, was quick to disassociate himself from Mr. Romney鈥檚 expressed views.

But what if the conventional wisdom is wrong? Is it possible this faux pas could actually be good for the Romney campaign?

That鈥檚 what some conservatives are arguing Wednesday morning. They say that while Romney鈥檚 comments may have been badly put, the whole uproar has handed the ex-Massachusetts governor an opportunity to refashion his campaign message and to emphasize that he wants to lessen the power of government, while President Obama wants to increase it.

鈥淟emonade out of lemons? If he can refine and hammer home,鈥� tweeted conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin, a staunch Romney supporter, on Wednesday.

It isn鈥檛 as if the Romney train had been humming on an open track. In recent weeks his campaign has been beset by so many problems, self-made and otherwise, that 鈥渕an of constant sorrow.鈥� Remember his botched trip to London? Clint Eastwood鈥檚 strange GOP convention appearance? The flap about his hasty statement on the Middle East riots, which we won鈥檛 even begin to try to describe?

As the 鈥渃onstant sorrow鈥� song goes, 鈥渇or six long years, I鈥檝e been in trouble. No pleasure here on Earth I find.鈥� (It hasn鈥檛 actually been six years, but it might seem that long if you鈥檙e a Romney campaign official.)

In this context, a candidate needs to find an opening where he can get it, to paraphrase on the subject Wednesday at Right Turn.

鈥淭he Romney-Ryan campaign quite correctly, I think, has seen that while there were certainly problems with how Romney spoke to his donors about the 47 percent, the terrain on which he now finds himself is exceptionally favorable,鈥� writes Rubin.

This terrain, according to Rubin and other conservatives, is ground on which Romney should compare his desire for an opportunity-based society with Mr. Obama鈥檚 government-centric approach.

This is a formulation that will appeal even to those who are currently boosted by government benefits or don鈥檛 make enough to pay income taxes 鈥� the 47 percent, writes RedState editor Erick Erickson.

Many people are not in the 47 percent by choice, and they recognize that they are there due to Obama鈥檚 economic policies, according to Erickson. They don鈥檛 think Romney was talking about them when he used the word 鈥渧ictims.鈥�

鈥淚 think the media and the left have badly misread the American mood on this,鈥� .

Conservatives are further heartened by the release of audiotape on which then-state Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in 1998 says, 鈥淚 actually believe in redistribution, at least to a certain level to make sure everybody鈥檚 got a shot.鈥�

Romney himself has an op-ed in Wednesday's USA Today that attempts to make this pivot away from the literal content of his words toward a more general and more positive message.

Government does have a role to play in helping Americans, writes Romney, but not in the manner the current administration intends. Rather, it 鈥渃reates the space鈥� for people to pursue their own goals.聽鈥淚nstead of creating a web of dependency, I will pursue policies that grow our economy and lift Americans out of poverty,鈥� .

But Democrats won鈥檛 let Romney easily distance himself from the actual words he used on the already-infamous fundraiser tape. The pro-Obama "super PAC" Wednesday using snippets of the tape, including the 鈥渧ictim鈥� remark and the Romney statement of his self-described 47 percent that 鈥淚鈥檒l never convince them they should take personal responsibility.鈥�