Mitt Romney's decision to answer a confusing question about contraception is playing right into the caricature of him Democrats have been seeking to paint.
“In one hour, Mitt Romney showed why women don’t trust him for one minute," said Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter.
"It feeds into so many narratives we love," said one Democratic operative. "Now he's extreme — and a flip-flopper."
Romney supports the Blunt bill, which grants all employers a religious conscience exemption to providing contraception to their employees, though he said he opposed some non-existent bill that would allow employers to "ban providing female contraception."
Romney's campaign quickly spun into damage-control mode, saying it was a confusing question. Romney himself said he thought the local television reporter was talking about a state bill, not the one up for consideration tomorrow. He quickly corrected himself on local television, but not before the damage was done.
The full statement from Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter:
“In one hour, Mitt Romney showed why women don’t trust him for one minute. It took little more than an hour for him to commit his latest flip-flop. Even worse, he ended up on the wrong side of an issue of critical importance to women.”
“The Blunt Amendment would allow any employer to deny their female employees coverage because of that employer’s own beliefs. With his support of this amendment, Mitt Romney is taking important health care decisions about contraception, mammograms, and cervical cancer screenings among other issues out of women’s hands and into the hands of their bosses.”
“While Mitt Romney may be in a race to the bottom with Rick Santorum to see who can pander most to the far right-wing, his embrace of extreme policies like the Blunt Amendment would have real life consequences for millions of women."