Did Santorum take the 'Etch-a-Sketch' Gaffe too far?

Though Rick Santorum's point that there isn't much difference between Obama and Romney is well taken, coming from him, it may have turned a Romney campaign gaffe into a Santorum gaffe. It also didn't help the perception that Santorum is the angry candidate who resents the fact that his message isn't resonating the way he wants it to.

To Santorum's point, four years of Jimmy Carter moved this country so far to the right that we elected Reagan. Four years of Jimmy Carter on steroids (Obama) doesn't appear to have moved this country even right of center if Romney is the nominee. In that respect, Santorum has a point but his argument that Romney will be worse than Obama not only comes across as petulant but it gives the DNC a powerful campaign commercial if Romney is the Republican nominee (they have plenty already).

Personally, I'm highly skeptical that Romney has a chance of beating Obama. In fact, Santorum probably should have laid out the reasons why that is true before he decided to practically wish it. Secretly, Obama's team likely thinks a Romney nomination gives them the best chance to win. After all, he's securing the nomination not with ideas but with money; Obama will have more than him so what does that portend? There are four things I see that will significantly hurt Romney against Obama.

1. The caricature of him as the poster child for the 1%
2. Obamacare is neutralized by Romneycare
3. Mainstream media campaign to attack Mormonism
4. A de-energized base due to a liberal candidate (John McCain effect)

Nonetheless, it appears that Santorum took a golden gaffe from team Romney and drew the wrong kind of attention to himself by taking it a bit too far for Republican voters. In fact, at CPAC last month, Andrew Breitbart accused anyone who would not support the Republican nominee, regardless of who it eventually becomes, as being "on the other side." While that may have been a bit strong, it's sentiment that many conservative voters share (the CPAC crowd certainly seemed to agree).

Conversely, the anti-Romney sentiment from the right is quite strong. If it weren't, I'm not sure Santorum would have said this.

h/t Freedom's Lighthouse

The candidate who could benefit most from both the "Etch-a-Sketch" gaffe and Santorum's "Etch-a-Sketch" gaffe "gaffe," is Newt Gingrich, who has released a powerful ad slamming the Romney campaign over the former while distancing himself from the latter's comments by tweeting that Romney would most assuredly be better than Obama.

Here's Newt's ad: