Mitt Had His Chance

The attack in Benghazi provided an opportunity for Mitt to demonstrate how he would lead in a crisis. Frankly, he should have just shut up and made a statement in support of U.S. efforts to address the situation, but instead he rashly politicized the murders of American diplomats without knowing all the facts. He mistakenly referred to a press release by the U.S. embassy in Egypt as the first response to the attack - that press release was issued 6 hours before the attack.

This type of foolishness is what got him in trouble with the British Prime Minister when he criticized the London Olympics. It has put him in trouble with the Chinese for his oversimplification of currency manipulation. When the Libyan uprising was taking place, he attacked the President for not doing enough, but he refused to say what he would do different. Then when when the revolution had succeeded and Gaddafi was confirmed killed he changed his mind. Several months ago he claimed that the greatest threat to the U.S. was Russia - which raised concerns about his understanding of geopolitical forces including Iran and terrorist organizations.

The latest blunder has only served to further destroy his chances to win the Presidency. It is clear that President Obama received a significant bump from the DNC. But, Romney compounded the problem this week with his clearly inappropriate behavior and words. The result has been further erosion in the Intrade markets that now put President Obama's chances of re-election at 68 percent. That puts the cost of his latest blunder at about 4-5 percent in the Intrade predictions.