McKay Coppins reports that, post-debate, Mitt Romney's campaign is returning, once again, to its true wheelhouse.
.... another campaign official, granted anonymity to discuss strategy, said their plan to re-litigate the Libya issue was postponed when instant polls and focus groups immediately after the debate showed Romney winning exchanges about the economy, deficit, and gas prices.
In the time between the Tuesday night spin room, and the candidate's Wednesday morning rally, Romney's team decided they would build on their momentum in those areas, rather than play defense on foreign policy, the official said.
The Libya story will continue to be a troublesome drip for Obama whether or not Romney tries to poke more holes in it.
The big question is how it affects Obama going forward.
There are three big ways it could dog him.
1. It could hurt his ratings on leadership -- polling has shown him with consistent advantages over Romney on leadership, but he's been falling fast.
2. It could hurt his ratings on foreign policy -- polling also shows him with consistent advantages here, but once again, Romney is making up ground.
3. It could hurt his ratings on honesty and trustworthiness -- this is also an area where he's beat up Romney, and continues to dry to draw contrasts (in the last debate, he played the consistency card at various points).
The dangerous thing for Obama is that it could hurt all three at once, and in fact, the three are sufficiently related that if he's slipping in one area, he's probably slipping in the other two.
