Candidates Develop Foot-In-Mouth Disease

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, speaks to a group of supporters during a town hall meeting in Winter Park, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007.(AP Photo/John Raoux) (John Raoux - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Say what? The 2008 presidential campaign theme could be "Oops! What I meant was ..."

Just about every Republican and Democrat has flubbed an answer to a question or made a borderline inappropriate comment _ some so uncomfortable they make you cringe _ only to take back the remarks or seek to clarify them later when under fire.

This month alone, Republican Mitt Romney backtracked from a comment about his sons' lack of military service. Rival Rudy Giuliani retreated from his suggestion that he spent as much time as Sept. 11 rescue workers at the ground zero site and was exposed to the same health risks. Democrat Bill Richardson stumbled over a question about whether homosexuality was a choice. All sought to skirt controversy by quickly explaining themselves.

It is happening so often, "you'd think it's deliberate!" quipped G. Terry Madonna, a pollster at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

Joking aside, he said: "I don't think you can go through this grueling ordeal and not find even the most seasoned politician who isn't susceptible to misspeaking or a malaprop here or there. We're seeing some genuinely real moments as these candidates are in the pressure cooker."

Chalk up the glut of apologies and clarifications to changing times.

Candidates of all stripes have become extremely sensitive to the Internet era and painfully aware of video-sharing Web sites such as YouTube that allow images and audio to be posted online immediately.

At the same time, it has become routine for campaigns to send out "trackers" with recorders to capture a rival's every appearance in hopes of catching an election-altering misstep to use in a television ad or Web video.

"In the olden days, this wasn't an issue because if you said something that could be problematic, you just denied that you said it," said Jenny Backus, a Democratic consultant. "These days, it's too easy to have cold, hard proof."

"You've got to have a strategy to combat the YouTube video," she added. "Now, one mistake can be replayed often."

Typically, Republican and Democratic strategists say, candidates who slip up take one of two damage-control avenues.

Some opt to stand firmly behind their comments and plow forward with their campaigns. They believe that apologizing or clarifying is a sign of weakness and that sticking to their viewpoints shows strength and projects self-awareness. The risk is that they can appear stubborn and unwilling to admit mistakes.