A senior adviser to GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Sunday that he didn’t think the candidate’s comment that London didn’t seem ready to host the Olympics would have an affect on November’s election.
“I think this is an election, again, that the public is viewing around big things, “ said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said on ABC’s This Week. “I don’t think that a gaffe, or a YouTube moment is really going to make or break this particular election.”
On Thursday, during the first leg of his oversees trip Romney told NBC that, “You know, it’s hard to know just how well it will turn out,” with regards to the success of the London Games.
“There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials … that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” he said.
The following day, Romney reversed course and told NBC’s Matt Lauer that, “”After being here a couple of days, it looks like London is ready” and that he was “absolutely convinced the people here are ready for the games.”
Romney predicted that by the start of the games his comments would be forgotten. Unfortunately for the candidate that wasn’t the case and it continued to be a subject of discussion on This Week Sunday morning.
Defending his boss, Madden said he thought issues like economy, and whether Americans think the economy has gotten better under President Obama, would end ultimately define the presidential election.
“I think it’s going to be about the direction of the country, how we rebuild the economy, how we continue to have a stronger, national security posture around the globe,” Madden pointed out. “I think that the headlines that come out of London on one day are not going to be as important as the overall view people take when it comes to our economic prosperity here at home, and then our safety and security around the globe.”
Obama adviser Robert Gibbs countered that Romney’s team was only claiming the gaffe didn’t matter because they were embarrassed, saying he thinks, “It’s clear that voters in this country wonder aloud whether Mitt Romney is ready for the world, and I think that the world is not yet ready for Romney.”
But as Breitbart News’ Dana Loesch pointed out during the show’s panel discussion, Romney didn’t say anything about the preparations for the Olympics that Great Britain’s own newspapers hadn’t already been saying for weeks.
According to a report from British paper The Daily Mail two weeks ago, 3,500 troops had to be “drafted in at the 11th hour to make up a shortfall in security guards” hired by Olympic security staff.
A July 19 Global Action Plan (GAP) poll warned that 75 percent of London businesses had not put in place “contingency plans to avoid possible commuting and delivery chaos during the Olympic Games,” reported Sky News.
Likewise, Madden said that Romney’s “strong, robust speech about his national security policy” at the VFW before he left and his support for Israel will “be much more important as a judgment on this particular trip than anything that happens.”
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