AN EXPLANATION FOR ROMNEY'S LATEST GAFFE

Oopsie -- Mitt Romney made an oh-so-convenient verbal boo-boo:

... In the midst of criticizing [Senator Barack] Obama and other Democrats on foreign and economic policy Tuesday, the GOP presidential hopeful said:

"Actually, just look at what Osam -- Barack Obama -- said just yesterday. Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq. That is the battlefield. ... It's almost as if the Democratic contenders for president are living in fantasyland. Their idea for jihad is to retreat, and their idea for the economy is to also retreat. And in my view, both efforts are wrongheaded."

Romney apparently was referring to an audiotape aired Monday in which a speaker believed to be terrorist Osama bin Laden called for insurgents in Iraq to unite and avoid divisions....

Over at the Carpetbagger Report, Steve Benen says,

this sounds intentional.

Nahhhh! You think?

Actually, I think what happened is that Mitt Romney used to know the difference between the senator from Illinois and the world's most wanted terrorist ... but he concluded that Republican voters would prefer him not to know the difference -- so he changed his position.