Mitt Romney 's painfully bad week . 
Mitt Romney
By any measure , the Mitt Romney for president campaign has had a painfully bad week . 
That day , Romney addressed the NAACP convention in Houston . 
The speech was poorly received , so much so that Romney , in an interview that afternoon on Fox Business , told host Neil Cavuto that he had "expected" boos . 
Some interpreted that comment as proof that Romney had actually wanted to be booed by the NAACP in order to rev up elements of the conservative base . 
The Romney campaign next reacted by whispering to the Drudge Report -LRB- which acts as a kind of message board for Romney -RRB- that it was seriously considering Condoleezza Rice as a running mate . 
Gillespie : Romney retroactively retired . 
Gillespie : Romney retroactively retired 02:44 . 
And it was that "win the hour" mentality that got the Romney campaign into much more serious trouble when the Obama campaign launched a big push on Romney 's business record the next day . 
Gergen : Obama 's charges vs. Romney do n't hold up . 
Thursday morning , the Obama campaign released a tough ad attacking the record of downsizing and outsourcing at Romney 's old firm , Bain Capital . 
The Romney campaign reacted with outrage . 
In support of the ad , Romney 's team argued that he had left Bain Capital in February 1999 ; the incidents alluded to by the Obama campaign all occurred after that date and had nothing to do with Romney . 
The first attack on Romney had been a jab , dropping Romney 's guard against the haymaker : On Friday , the Obama team counter-charged that it was Romney who was lying in his ads or who had committed a felony , lying on 140 official forms that he signed as CEO and sole shareholder of Bain between 1999 and 2002 . 
Romney now chased the Obama story , granting five TV interviews to reiterate his version of events . 
By Sunday , even Romney supporters were urging the thing he wants least : release of more income tax returns . 
And here again , what got Romney into the trouble was his war room . 
It was the too-fierce response to Attack 1 -- the adamant insistence that Romney had nothing , nothing to do with anything that happened at Bain after February 1999 -- that set up Romney for Attack 2 : Did he lie on SEC forms ? 
Yes , it is technically true that Romney ended his operational role at Bain before he ended his titular role . 
Romney 's core problem is this : He heads a party that must win two-thirds of the white working-class vote in presidential elections to compensate for its weakness in almost every demographic category . 
The white working class is the most pessimistic and alienated group in the electorate , and it especially fears and dislikes the kind of financial methods that gained Romney his fortune . 
Romney has a strong potential defense : Bain was in the business of making companies more efficient and profitable . 
However , it 's not an argument that appeals much to the voters Romney most intensely needs to win . 
And this time , by trying to do too much , the Romney war room may have blasted its own side with lethal friendly fire .
By any measure , [TGT] for president campaign has had a painfully bad week . 
That day , [TGT] addressed the NAACP convention in Houston . 
The speech was poorly received , so much so that [TGT] , in an interview that afternoon on Fox Business , told host Neil Cavuto that [TGT] had "expected" boos . 
Some interpreted that comment as proof that [TGT] had actually wanted to be booed by the NAACP in order to rev up elements of the conservative base . 
The [TGT] campaign next reacted by whispering to the Drudge Report -LRB- which acts as a kind of message board for [TGT] -RRB- that it was seriously considering Condoleezza Rice as a running mate . 
Gillespie : [TGT] retroactively retired . 
Gillespie : [TGT] retroactively retired 02:44 . 
And it was that "win the hour" mentality that got the [TGT] campaign into much more serious trouble when the Obama campaign launched a big push on [TGT] 's business record the next day . 
Gergen : Obama 's charges vs. [TGT] do n't hold up . 
Thursday morning , the Obama campaign released a tough ad attacking the record of downsizing and outsourcing at [TGT] 's old firm , Bain Capital . 
The [TGT] campaign reacted with outrage . 
In support of the ad , [TGT] 's team argued that [TGT] had left Bain Capital in February 1999 ; the incidents alluded to by the Obama campaign all occurred after that date and had nothing to do with [TGT] . 
The first attack on [TGT] had been a jab , dropping [TGT] 's guard against the haymaker : On Friday , the Obama team counter-charged that it was [TGT] who was lying in [TGT] ads or who had committed a felony , lying on 140 official forms that [TGT] signed as CEO and sole shareholder of Bain between 1999 and 2002 . 
[TGT] now chased the Obama story , granting five TV interviews to reiterate [TGT] version of events . 
By Sunday , even [TGT] supporters were urging the thing [TGT] wants least : release of more income tax returns . 
And here again , what got [TGT] into the trouble was [TGT] war room . 
It was the too-fierce response to Attack 1 -- the adamant insistence that [TGT] had nothing , nothing to do with anything that happened at Bain after February 1999 -- that set up Romney for Attack 2 : Did [TGT] lie on SEC forms ? 
Yes , it is technically true that [TGT] ended [TGT] operational role at Bain before [TGT] ended [TGT] titular role . 
[TGT] 's core problem is this : [TGT] heads a party that must win two-thirds of the white working-class vote in presidential elections to compensate for [TGT] weakness in almost every demographic category . 
The white working class is the most pessimistic and alienated group in the electorate , and it especially fears and dislikes the kind of financial methods that gained [TGT] [TGT] fortune . 
[TGT] has a strong potential defense : Bain was in the business of making companies more efficient and profitable . 
However , it 's not an argument that appeals much to the voters [TGT] most intensely needs to win . 
And this time , by trying to do too much , the [TGT] war room may have blasted its own side with lethal friendly fire .