Essentially, Mitt Romney's pitch for the presidency rests on a single line, "He made it worse." In campaign ads, speeches and op-eds, Romney has attacked the president for lengthening the Great Recession. During last month's presidential debate, for example, Romney led with this:
"He didn't create the recession, but he made it worse and longer," the former Massachusetts governor said in the second debate of the 2012 election season but the first in which he shared the stage with his fellow Republicans. "This president has failed. And he's failed at a time when the American people counted on him to create jobs and get the economy going."
Of course, this is completely false. As Steve Benen notes, "The economy was shrinking, now it’s growing. The economy was hemorrhaging jobs, now it’s gaining jobs. The stock market was collapsing, now it’s soaring." The economy isn't where it should be, but it certainly isn't as terrible as it was when Obama entered office.
Regardless, Romney had his story and he was sticking to it, that is, until someone asked him a question. Yesterday, a reporter for NBC news called Romney on his bogus claim, and in response, Romney immediately backed away from what was previously the centerpiece of his campaign:
“I didn't say that things are worse…. What I said was that economy hasn't turned around.”
Compared to this, Michele Bachmann's John Quincy Adams gaffe isn't even worth a mention. Not only did Romney lie about Obama's handling of the economy, but then -- once caught in the lie -- he lied again. What's more, he backed down from the core message of his campaign, and ceded a tremendous amount of ground to the president. For the front-runner in a presidential nomination contest, it's an extremely amateur performance.
