Mitt Romney Messes up on Bin Laden

Every time he opens his mouth, Mitt Romney loses an opportunity to shut up. He makes a faux pas each time, like his speech last week encouraging students to borrow money from their parents to finance their education, as if all of the students were from rich families who could invest $200,000 in school. Paul Krugman made this the highlight of his column.

Instead of responding to The New York Times investigation into the investment fund started by his son, Tagg, in the wake of his 2008 presidential campaign – an odd mix of business and politics – Romney launched a debate with Barack Obama about bin Laden.

On Monday, Romney felt obliged to say that “even Jimmy Carter” would have ordered bin Laden’s death, alluding to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning president. That was a big mistake, especially since Jimmy Carter never hesitated to send commandos to free American diplomats held by Tehran, even if that operation was a complete fiasco.

Above all, Romney should have thought twice before trying to minimize Obama’s success and reduce his stature as commander in chief because his own position on the search and elimination of the al-Qaida leader was the subject of much flip-flopping, which is typical of the Republican candidate for the White House.

Barack Obama reminded journalists who asked him about his opponent’s statement that back in 2007, Romney had declared that it wasn’t worth the trouble to “move heaven and earth” and spend billions of dollars to catch a single person. After the success of the military operation that eliminated bin Laden, Mitt Romney congratulated the President. The Obama campaign has aired a spot against the Republican asking voters: “Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?” And the vice president, Joe Biden, in a speech made last week, wondered aloud whether bin Laden would still be alive today if Mitt Romney had been president.

The next occasion for a Romney faux pas: On the anniversary of bin Laden’s death, Romney will visit a firehouse in New York with the former mayor of the city, Rudolph Giuliani, who now an adviser to Serbian nationalists; Romney was among those who approved NATO’s bombing of Belgrade.