Video War: Romney Still Suffering Trump, Tarmac FAIL

It seems a telling commentary on the presidential campaign that, less than 100 days from the election, Olympic politics presents so much more to talk about. In spite of that, though, this screen shot from Obama’s “tax plan” ad provides is telling on its own.

One thing is says, which has been no secret all along (1, 2, 3, etc), is that this has not been the most hospitable year for a business mega-mogul and card carrying member of the 1% to run. More significantly, though, whether the fault lies with his team or with Romney itself, there is no way a well-tuned campaign, given the lifeblood nature of political optics, would let a scene like this come to pass in the first place.

As we wrote back in May in our bullet list post:

If (the) mission of the day was to accept (Trump’s) endorsement at (a) media-free event and otherwise avoid any photo-op with the guy … so much for corporate efficiency.

It’s easy to say that such slip ups are inevitable, and someone might respond to seeing this one that way. The point is, though, that this visual doesn’t represent “one instance” so much as it stands for a pattern of gaffes, poor coordination an overall absence of a more consistent thematic and visual strategy. And when that’s the case (did somebody say Mitt Kerry?) and at this late date, you still haven’t defined yourself, you can expect the other guy is going to sketch your picture for you.

(Notice in that original post, by the way, the top of the plane is not fire engine red with the sky looking smokey, but the plane top is chocolate brown … and the day crystal clear.)

Obama “Stretch” ad via YouTube.

(photo: we’re guessing its a tinkered version of one by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)