Obama presses advantage on national security

Not important enough to be on Mitt Romney's laundry list. With polling showing President Barack Obama enjoying solid leads on National Security over that other guy, his campaign intends to press his advantage:

Romney ' whose convention speech didn't include a salute to the troops or a reference to Afghanistan, where about 75,000 Americans are still at war ' is getting hit almost daily now by Democratic attacks that he is wobbly and therefore untrustworthy on national security.

It's the same critique Republicans used to undermine Kerry to devastating effect eight years ago ' and the Obama campaign plans to use the run-up to the presidential debates to make a major issue of Romney's surprising convention stumble [...]

Obama advisers tell POLITICO that they expect to cite the convention-speech omission repeatedly in coming days as evidence that Romney is not ready to be commander in chief and is not being frank about what he would do if elected, including his policy on Afghanistan. The campaign plans to use Romney's omission as a key talking point in events aimed at military families and veterans in Virginia, North Carolina and other swing states where many voters have relatives or neighbors serving in combat.

It's a good move. Democrats have the GOP on the defensive on one of the three key pillars of their entire raison d'être (lower taxes, family values and strong national defense).
Romney's "not important" gaffe is epic, and should pay far more dividends than "Etch-a-Sketch" ever did.

While Etch-a-Sketch referred to a tactical matter of little interest to people outside of political junky circles, "not important" speaks to Romney's very character'where individuals have no value, just the institutions they work for. Corporations and the military have value, but the people who make them happen are not.

Romney's oversight might seem minor, a sin of omission for failing to the mention the troops in a speech that's meant to be sweeping by design. But several GOP strategists told POLITICO they considered it, in the words of one, 'felony stupid,' raising 'a leadership issue, a spine issue' for Romney.

I'm not sure how Romney's oversight might seem minor to anyone paying attention to American politics the last decade. And I'm not sure how blowing off the troops is a "spine issue," since it took real cojones to buck political convention and ignore lauding our men and women in uniform. Romney didn't give a shit, and he's made it clear since that he doesn't give a shit that people give a shit.

But "felony stupid"? Yeah, that one fits. And Obama is going to make sure no one forgets it.