A Romney adviser's simile comparing the campaign to a very old toy utterly transfixed the new media.
"It's almost like an Etch a Sketch," Eric Fehrnstrom said on CNN Wednesday morning. "You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again."
The remarks produced a voracious torrent of retro toy-inspired silliness. The first round involved the Etch A Sketch's high-tech descendent, Photoshop, including a rendition of Mitt Romney's dog, Seamus, on the roof of the family car, framed in red.
The next phase involved Twitter jokes. There was the hashtag #RomneyToys, with suggestions from members of rivals' staff, including Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond:
Mitt Romney 64-ct Box of Crayola crayons. Primary colors are missing. #RomneyToys
— R.C. Hammond (@rchammond) 21 Mar 12
And the Slate blogger Dave Weigel:
Hungry Hungry RINOs #romneytoys
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) 21 Mar 12
Mr. Fehrnstrom was the target of a fake Twitter account, @EricFehm (that's with an "m" rather than an r-n at the end), who offered an explanation for why the Romney campaign did not send out an official release about Mr. Bush's endorsement until hours after the news broke:
Took a while the Sketch out the language. RT @DylanByers: INBOX: JEB BUSH ENDORSES MITT ROMNEY (finally)
— Eric Fehmstrom (@EricFehm) 21 Mar 12
We were surprised that a fake Twitter account for Mr. Romney's Etch A Sketch did not also go viral. Instead, a Web site created by Matt Ortega, a Democratic operative, features an image of the toy that randomly generates sets of contradictory remarks by Mr. Romney.
Within hours, the Democratic National Committee had created a Web ad, embedded above, titled "Mitt Romney: Some Things You Just Can't Shake Off," with animations of Mr. Romney making especially conservative statements. The spot is surely a preview of what's to come if Mr. Romney becomes the Republican nominee.
But the men who want to prevent Mr. Romney from becoming the nominee, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, both seized on the comment during their campaign appearances today.
Rick Santorum's spokesman, Matt Beynon, posted a picture of the candidate en route to an event:
@RickSantorum studying up on @MittRomney policy positions http://t.co/MzZUNH3Y
— Matt Beynon (@mattbeynon) 21 Mar 12
And the former Pennsylvania senator announced to his audience in Louisiana that he stands "firmly on the rock of freedom, not on the sands of an Etch A Sketch."
Up in Maryland, Alice Stewart, a spokeswoman for Mr. Santorum, crashed Mr. Romney's campaign event and distributed toys to reporters.
Santorum spox @alicetweets handing out Etch-a-Sketches outside Romney rally. http://t.co/CsEV9r3e
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) 21 Mar 12
Mr. Gingrich is also using it as a gift in Louisiana, bestowing one upon a boy in the front row, saying, "Now you can be a presidential candidate."
Of course, no Internet meme can reach its logical conclusion without a conspiracy theory. The only significant interruption in the Etch A Sketch obsession came with reports that Tim Tebow would be traded to the New York Jets. Mike O'Brien, a member of the politics staff at NBC News, thought the timing was a bit suspicious:
Man, Woody Johnson must have really wanted the Etch-a-Sketch story buried.
— Mike O'Brien (@mpoindc) 21 Mar 12
He was certainly joking, but one thing is true: The Jets Owner is indeed a prominent Romney supporter.
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