Mitt Romney and “Etch-A-Sketch”
A Mitt Romney campaign adviser’s comments Wednesday that the front-running Republican candidate for president could reset (“like an Etch A Sketch”) his stands on issues if he becomes the GOP nominee brought a stinging response from the head of the nation’s largest reproductive rights group, who said women voters will not accept flip-flops on issues such as birth control.
“We will make damn sure that women know where Mitt Romney stands” on matters related to women’s health, said Nancy Keenan, head of NARAL Pro-Choice America in an interview with The Chronicle. She addressed more than 1.000 women Wednesday at the group’s annual Power of Choice lunch at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, shortly after Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom made the comments that became a campaign nightmare.
CNN asked Fehrnstrom whether his candidate could tack more to the political center in the November general election against President Obama – a Democrat.
“Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign” – Fehrnstrom said. “Everything changes. It’s like an Etch A Sketch. You can shake it up and we start all over again.”
Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney picked up a highly prized endorsement Wednesday from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush after a convincing victory the night before in the Illinois primary but then saw a top adviser’s televised comment provide new ammunition to his trailing rivals in the Republican presidential race.
Eric Fehrnstrom (Romney’s senior campaign adviser) was asked in a CNN interview Wednesday morning whether the former Massachusetts governor had been forced to adopt conservative positions in the rugged race that could hurt his standing with moderates in November’s general election.
“I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes” – Fehrnstrom responded. “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.”
Rival candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who are vying for conservative support against the more moderate Romney, seized on the comment as indicative of their longstanding criticism that Romney shifts his positions on issues such as health care reform and abortion to suit his political needs.
Gingrich brought out an Etch A Sketch at a campaign appearance in Louisiana, where the next primary takes place Saturday.
“You have to stand for something that lasts longer than this” – Gingrich said at the Lake Charles event, holding the drawing toy invented in 1959.
“You could not have found a more perfect illustration of why people distrust Romney than to have his (adviser) say that the Etch A Sketch allows you to erase everything in the general election” – Gingrich added. “You have to read the guy’s quote to realize – if he had set out to highlight for everybody why we distrust Romney, I think he couldn’t have done a better job.”
Santorum’s campaign posted a photo on Twitter of the candidate using an Etch A Sketch, saying it showed him “studying up on (Romney’s) policy positions.”
The day after a resounding win in the Illinois Republican primary and a major endorsement from Florida’s Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney saw his presidential campaign consumed by a child’s toy.
Speaking on CNN on Wednesday morning, Romney campaign aide Eric Fehrnstrom dismissed concerns that by taking conservative positions during the primaries, Romney may alienate moderate voters ahead of the general election. “I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It’s like Etch A Sketch” – Fehrnstrom said. “You can shake it up, and we start all over again.”
Within hours, Romney was under attack from all sides.
Both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were toting their own Etch A Sketches as props to illustrate their belief Romney is not a consistent conservative.
Democrats created a video featuring clips of Romney projected on an Etch a Sketch.
Santorum spokeswoman Alice Stewart appeared outside a Romney town hall holding a miniature pink version of the toy. “It confirms what a lot of conservatives have been afraid of” – she said. “The campaign acknowledged that, if need be, if he won the primary, he could go right back to the middle and win the general election.”