Romney: Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Thus far, Mitt Romney seems to have run a flawless campaign. That he did so is on some level unsurprising; he seems to be running it with a Third Way business-political outlook. No longer though. Speaking last night in Miami to the Cuban community, Romney finished his speech with Patria o muerte, venceremos! Bravo for speaking Spanish, Romney, but next time stay away from Castro slogans? Apparently the line, "Fatherland or death we shall overcome," is vintage Fidel, a conclusion to many of his speeches over the years. Whoops.

Beyond the fact that a Romney staffer is looking for another job this morning, this could have consequences. Romney's been aggressively courting the Cuban community, with one of the community's heavyweights, Al Cardenas, cutting radio spots for him and chairing his Florida campaign. His concern is understandable given the amount of support McCain seems to have in the state (remember when Charlie Crist ditched Bush to campaign with McCain late last cycle?) and the fact that Florida's angling to move way up in the primary calendar (which is a topic for another day, but it's bad for democracy).

The damage is done and it'll be interesting to see if Romney's shunned by the Cubans for his idiocy. But what will be more interesting to see is how his thus-far lillywhite campaign manages damage control. Can they handle it or are we going to begin seeing some cracks?