It’s the Opportunity Cost, Stupid

Blake Zeff correctly points out that while the hidden camera video is damaging, the real problem for Mitt Romney “is the waste of a full week and counting, spent explaining and repackaging his own statements and insisting nothing’s wrong with his campaign.”

“The opportunity-cost is unaffordable for a candidate who’s primed to lose this election…. As of last Tuesday night, Romney had just under eight more weeks — approximately fifty-four days, if you discount Election Day — to make his case to voters. Since then, the campaign has been consumed by his ill-considered Libya comments, Campaign in Disarray process stories and his ‘private’ remarks about 47 percent of the country (followed, naturally, by more Campaign in Disarray stories).”

“Whether any of these stories actually changes any voters’ minds about the candidate, the fact is that they’ve essentially consumed all the media bandwidth on seven days out of the 54 days left, during which time Romney was not making an argument for his candidacy.”