Several Romney campaign advisers and Republican lawmakers continue to mistakenly refer to Russia as the Soviet Union, msnbc host Chris Matthews pointed out during his "Sideshow" segment on Thursday's Hardball.
For instance, Michele Bachmann had this to say last year on Jay Sekulow's show: "What people recognize is that there's a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward."
And then there was John Lehman, a Romney foreign policy advisor who said on April 26 that "we are seeing the Soviets pushing into the Arctic with no response from us."
Of course, the Soviet Union ceased to exist some 20 years ago. But "neocons still think and feel in Cold War terms," Matthews said. "They miss the Cold War."
Romney himself had a slip in April while discussing Russia. Speaking at a Republican National Committee event, he said, "Obama entered into an agreement with the Soviets, excuse me, with Russia" by negotiating the START treaty with with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev.
And then on Wednesday, there was Richard Williamson, Romney's top foreign policy adviser. At a Brookings Institution event, Williamson ripped Obama's policy in Syria, saying that the country is “strategically important to the Soviet Union.”