By now, most of us know he's one of Mitt Romney's top surrogates, John Sununu, and Sununu said on Tuesday that he wished "this president would learn how to be an American," before stating he had misspoke during a conference call organized by the campaign designed to cast the president as a corrupt politician who is out of touch with small businesses.
Sununu, the former New Hampshire governor and chief of staff to George H.W. Bush who is known for his brash speaking style, was forced to backtrack.
"What I thought I said, but I guess I didn't say, is that the president has to learn the American formula for creating business. The American formula for creating business is not to have government create business. The American formula for creating business, that I wish he would get comfortable with, is to create a climate in which entrepreneurs can thrive. If I didn't give all of that detail I apologize," he said.
Later Tuesday, Sununu apologized in an interview with CNN. "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have used those words. And I apologize for using those words," he said.
Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith was quick to respond to Sununu's original comment. "The Romney campaign has officially gone off the deep end. The question is what else they'll pull to avoid answering serious questions about Romney's tenure at Bain Capital and investments in foreign tax havens and offshore accounts. This meltdown and over-the-top rhetoric won't make things better- it only calls attention to how desperate they are to change the conversation."
On RNN-TV, my point was let's call a spade a spade about what's really going on here with the implication.
My guess is in about a month or so, Rev. Wright will officially be an issue. But the warning signs are also flashing for President Obama.
Mitt Romney holds a narrow lead over Barack Obama in the latest national poll, with the Republican challenger edging the incumbent president 47-46 percent.
And nearly two in three voters – 64 percent – say his policies have contributed at least partially to the economic downturn, according to a survey released Wednesday by CBS News and the New York Times. That's evidence that Republican attacks on the president's record are likely resonating, and represent a double-digit increase from a similar question asked by Gallup last month