I knew a jazz pianist years ago who told me something interesting about how he handled mistakes. "When I hit a wrong note, I keep hitting it -- so the audience will think it's intentional," he said. To move away from the wrong note would be a subtle admission of an error.
I wonder if the Romney campaign knows the same pianist.
Team Romney's efforts on the "war on women" went off the rails this morning when the campaign organized a press call and (1) couldn't defend a misleading statistic; (2) couldn't explain what would change if the former governor is elected president; and (3) couldn't even say whether Romney supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Forced to scramble, the Romney campaign issued a statement from Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) -- who voted against the Fair Pay Act. So, the campaign then sent around a statement from Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) -- who also voted against the Fair Pay Act.
After going 0-for-2, Team Romney sent out a statement from Kerry Healey, who served as Romney's lieutenant governor in Massachusetts -- and who urged Romney in 2003 not to cut funding for preventive health care programs, including breast cancer and cervical cancer research, only to find that Romney chose to ignore her warnings.
Anything else? Romney campaign policy director Lanhee Chen also argued that "Obamacare" has been bad for women, but as it turns out, that's wrong, too.
Some of these benefits will take effect over the next few years, but many of them are already helping women lead healthier lives. Senior citizens like Norma Byrne of Vineland, N.J., have already seen that the new Affordable Care Act makes prescription drugs more affordable. [...]The new health-care law is also helping mothers and daughters like Joyce and Emma Morgan of Charleston, S.C. Thanks to the new law, Joyce can sleep a little easier at night, knowing that 23-year-old Emma can stay on her own plan until she turns 26. Emma is one of 2.5 million young adults who are already receiving health insurance through this provision.Women who own small businesses, such as Nan Warshaw of Chicago, are taking advantage of provisions in the Affordable Care Act that help them provide coverage for their employees. [...]Finally, the Affordable Care Act includes new benefits specifically for women, such as requiring health plans to cover recommended preventive services to help protect women's health without any additional cost sharing. Many preventive services, including mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer, and other services, are already covered, and additional preventive-care services for women, such as contraception, must be covered by new plans after Aug. 1, 2012.
There's also a provision in the law that will prevent women from being charged more for insurance simply because of their gender.
Dear Romney campaign: pick a different note. Hitting this dissonant note over and over again won't hide the fact that you made a mistake.