Mitt Romney in Britain – Not Just Not Ready for Prime Time – Not Ready for Any Time

Insults Britain on Olympics and Forgets Name of Opposition Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband

One of the characteristics of the Mitt Romney campaign is the very tight control the campaign has on the candidate.  For years Mr. Romney did no television interviews, and when he finally consented to go on the air without a script it was with Fox News.  Lately, because he has had to refute various attacks he has increased his exposure, and one can imagine the handlers cringing at the very thought of Mitt without a script.

Mr. Romney has provided a great example of the problem with the start of his foreign trip.  First stop is Britain, with the start of the Olympics.  Since Olympics figure prominently in Mr. Romney’s claim for Presidential qualifications he obviously wanted to make a strong impression.  He didn’t.

First up was his comments on Britain’s preparations for the games.  It is true that they have made somewhat of a mess of it, but like every other country they don’t want criticism from others.

LONDON — Mitt Romney’s carefully choreographed trip to London caused a diplomatic stir when he called the British Olympic preparations “disconcerting” and questioned whether Londoners would turn out to support the Games.

“The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” Mr. Romney said in an interview withNBC on Wednesday.

And Mr. Romney was probably not expecting the retort from Prime Minister David Cameron, who like all British politicians faces a hostile Parliament and knows how to hold his own.

That prompted a tart rejoinder from the British prime minister, David Cameron. “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere,” an allusion to Salt Lake City, which hosted Games that Mr. Romney oversaw.

The later on the trip Mr. Romney did the bi-partisan thing and met with British opposition party leader Ed Miliband who heads the Labour Party.  Things did not go so well here either.

Mr Leader? Did Mitt Romney forget Ed Miliband's name?

Mitt Romney follows gaffe over Britain's readiness to hold Olympic games by appearing to forget name of Labour leader

Yes, Mr. Romney referred to Mr. Miliband as Mr. Leader, the equivalent of Mr. Miliband referring to Mr. Romney as ‘Mr. Candidate’. 

None of this is important in the long run scheme of things, it just illustrates the horror the Romney campaign has of letting Mitt be Mitt.  But since nobody knows what Mitt really is, maybe their fears are misplaced.  Probably not though.