Romney Campaign Prepares To Capitalize On Obama Gaffe

Aides say they plan to make the president’s “doing fine” remarks a central issue.

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=kEGtgnZGVzA.

President Obama’s “doing fine” gaffe today will be the “gift that keeps on giving” according to one Romney aide — a poor choice of words that is already drawing comparisons to John McCain infamously declaring “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” in 2008.

“He made a heck of a deal out of that in 2008, so what’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” said the excited Romney aide, who added that the campaign will “continue to vigorously tell the stories of the millions of Americans struggling under the Obama economy… This isn’t going away”

Romney’s campaign made Twitter waves last month with a powerful web video featuring interviews with “a few of the 23 million” Americans struggling to make ends meet. But despite an enthusiastic reception in the blogosphere, the ads have not yet become central to the campaign’s message. Instead, Romney spends much of his time on the stump talking about struggling job creators instead of the jobless.

Asked whether the campaign would tweak its strategy to emphasize the unemployed in the wake of Obama’s gaffe, a senior adviser indicated such a shift wasn’t necessary.

“People know what the President said is terribly out of touch,” the adviser responded. “But they also know that his actions have been terribly out of touch. So what he is saying is shocking but it’s not anything that people haven’t felt.”

He added, “Ours is a reality based campaign, and this is reality.”

Still, one Republican operative predicted a Romney ad would be on television next week capitalizing on Obama’s gaffe, asking “are you really fine?”

“I could write this spot for you in five seconds,” the operative said.