Etch-A-Sketch

This was not the message that Mitt Romney wanted to be discussing in the aftermath of his Illinois victory. According to his campaign’s senior adviser, the former governor will have enough time to ”change” his positions and build a new image for himself and his campaign before he faces off against Barack Obama, or, as Eric Fehrnstrom said, to erase and paint a new drawing like children do when they are playing Etch-a-Sketch and “start all over again.”

In reality, this is what all candidates do when they transition from the primaries to the presidential campaign. During the primaries, the candidates talk in a kind of an encrypted code to the most orthodox factions of their political movements. But during the presidential campaign, they need to show openness and moderation to captivate the pragmatic independents, those voters who do not choose their candidate based on party affiliations or ideological beliefs.

But at this stage of the campaign, when Romney is still fighting against the preconceived notion that he is a false conservative, a candidate based on focus groups, a flip-flopper instead of a man of deep ideas and convictions, Fehrnstrom’s comments only serve to confirm and reinforce the distrust that the candidate is already encountering from a significant portion of the conservative electorate.

Rick Santorum and the Democrats did not waste any time in taking advantage of the blunder. And the people who love to make jokes on Twitter can only be grateful for yet another treat.