Michael Cohen calls this one of the "harshest things" he's seen this campaign season. I'm inclined to agree:
Here's the thing about Mitt Romney: He's a much weaker candidate than he looks. His reputation for competence notwithstanding, he has made his fair share of gaffes and mistakes in his quest for the presidency. That he has escaped (mostly) unblemished has less to do with his skill as a politician and more to do with the sorry state of his competition. Whether Romney realizes it or not, this puts him on shaky terrain. The downside of fierce competition in a presidential primary is that you might not get the nomination. The upside, however, is that you've learned to deal with mistakes and emergencies and are better prepared for the rigors and contigencies of a general election. Put another way, not only did it pay to have Jeremiah Wright emerge in the middle of the primary than in the general election but surviving Wright made Barack Obama a better candidate than he otherwise would have been.
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