The Mittmentum Myth?

The media has breathlessly reported on the Romney momentum since the first debate. But does the narrative reflect reality? Certainly the race has tightened and Romney's fortunes have improved, but how much Mittmentum is real and how much is hype? Jonathan Chait in New York magazine dug a little deeper and found a compliant (i.e., lazy) press taking dictation from a campaign trying to create a self-fulfilling prophesy of a resurgent Romney on the road to victory. An excerpt:

"Over the last week, Romney’s campaign has orchestrated a series of high-profile gambits in order to feed its momentum narrative. Last week, for instance, Romney’s campaign blared out the news that it was pulling resources out of North Carolina. The battleground was shifting! Romney on the offensive! On closer inspection, it turned out that Romney was shifting exactly one staffer. It is true that Romney leads in North Carolina, and it is probably his most favorable battleground state. But the decision to have a staffer move out of state, with a marching band and sound trucks in tow to spread the news far and wide, signals a deliberate strategy to create a narrative."

I read today that Romney is beefing up it's operations in Wisconsin because the race there is wide open! Reality or the Mittmentum myth? Read the whole article here.