Props to the editors at the Tampa Bay Times for headlining the article by political reporters Adam C. Smith and Alex Leary regarding the state of the presidential race, post Boca Raton.
Entitled "Mitt Romney Stumbles But Don't Count Him Out", the fact of the matter is is that it's highly doubtful that the most recent gaffe by the GOP nominee can be a decisive moment in the campaign – or that there will be any decisive moment (pre-debate) that will make either Romney or Barack Obama incapable of winning the election pre-November 6.
That's despite the proclamations by liberal and conservative pundits alike throughout this summer about how a particular incident will prove fatal. Don't you remember the whole kerfuffle with Obama and the Catholic Church? That came after the White House began mandating faith-based hospitals, charities and schools to provide birth control and reproductive services in health insurance plans. It was supposedly going to doom Obama in the fall.
Just last week, satirist Bill Maher called Romney's comments after the violence in the Middle East a decisive moment making him un-presidential.
The fact is that though Barack Obama does hold small leads in some key battleground states, in many cases it's barely above the margin of error. That's after repeated miscues by Governor Romney.
Then again, a month or so ago you had conservatives like Newt Gingrich disbelieving the polls showing the race essentially tied, saying that no president who had eight percent unemployment for so many months now could possibly be leading in the race.
49 days from today we'll know whose our next president. The rest is a lot of noise (which no doubt will be contributing to).
The reverberations from the leaked Romney speech continues to well, reverberate. Mittens went to the friendly confines of Fox News yesterday to elaborate on his views.
It's been interesting reading the various responses from the conservative world on Romney's remarks. Some are excited, saying Mitt has finally said what needed to be said. Others are horrified.
Romney surrogate John McCain held court for an hour yesterday to about 120 students at the University of Tampa on all aspects of foreign policy. Like other conservatives, the Arizona Senator is downplaying the significance of that 14-minute video that has allegedly ignited renewed anger in the Middle East.
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2012.