Pundits: Romney needs a bailout

Waving goodbye It's been clear for a long time that President Obama is winning. It was clear even before Clint Eastwood shouted at a chair, even before Bill Clinton brought down the house, even before Mitt Romney smirked at the killing of U.S. diplomats, and even before Jimmy Carter's grandson gave David Corn video of the Republican nominee disparaging half of all Americans as moochers.

But that doesn't make it any less satisfying to see the conventional wisdom in the traditional media begin to acknowledge that fact. The New York Times today reports that Romney's faces a "daunting path" in a campaign that is "tilting against him." The Wall Street Journal says its latest polling reveals "headwinds for Mitt Romney." NBC's FirstRead points out that Romney stumbled badly this week: "The Romney campaign began this week by rolling a new message tied to two new TV ads that were as good as the campaign had released in weeks, but the fallout over the '47%' video blew all of that up." National Journal's Jill Lawrence argues Romney's stumbles undermine his core claim to the presidency: that he is competent.

Reuters may have had the most charitable thing to say about Mitt Romney, conceding that his campaign is "reeling" but adding this caveat: "Despite the serial gaffes and the many questions about his campaign, Romney remains within striking range of the president." If that's the best thing anyone in the press can say about the state of the Romney campaign, then he's in terrible shape indeed.

And it's not just non-partisan media piling on Romney, either. Check out what Republican columnist Peggy Noonan has to say about Romney:

It is true that a good debate, especially a good first one, can invigorate a candidate and lead to increased confidence, which can prompt good decisions and sensible statements. There is more than a month between the first debate and the voting: That's enough time for a healthy spiral to begin.

But: The Romney campaign has to get turned around. This week I called it incompetent, but only because I was being polite. I really meant "rolling calamity."

I guess if Romneyland is still looking for a bright spot, it's this: Noonan, for all her hot air, is still going to vote for him. But he's still going to lose.