Etch-A-Sketch Romney

Jeb Bush endorses Mitt Romn…wait…Romney aid shoved his foot in his mouth and in Romney’s with a mind-bloggingly comment that suggested Romney could totally start anew and discard his past positions, including assertions Romney made in an effort to woo conservative voters by moving further to the right.  Forget that Jeb Bush finally endorsed Romney because nobody better stepped-up.  No, let’s bring on the Etch-a-Sketch!

True to form, the Democrats and Romney’s rivals for the Republican Presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, pounced on the Etch-a-Sketch comment by quickly having aides get the toy so they could hold it up high, repeat the comment and warn how Romney could deep six conservative voters once he get the nomination and go moderate.

2012 has become a turning point in political conversation.  Never before have we had an election where the word “moderate” is as dirty a political word as “communist ” or “extremist.”  And never have we had an election where a toy has become a major news story that overshadowed big political ones like Romney’s Illinois GOP primary win and Jeb Bush’s endorsement.  And never have we had a close aide of a Presidential candidate constrain the candidate’s future actions. 

Even if it wasn’t what his aide meant, the bottom line is this - unlike any other candidate in recent memory, Mitt Romney will now enjoy less flexibility in pivoting towards the country’s center once he wins the Republican nomination.

The Etch-a-Sketch line will now have a life of its own that will continue to be a sore spot for Romney and his campaign for the foreseeable future.  While one sentence about a toy isn’t going to decide whether Romney will be the Republican presidential nominee, but it’s one more piece of evidence that Romney is a politician’s politician — willing to say whatever he thinks the audience he’s in front of wants to hear.