I’m not a fan of character-based meta-narratives about candidates, but I have to say it — Mitt Romney can’t even pretend to misspeak in a convincing way:

“I think that is a position which is not consistent with the fact,” Mr. Romney said. “Actually, just look at what Osam, uh, Barack Obama, said just yesterday, Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq. ‘That is the battlefield. That is the central place,’ he said. ‘Come join us under one banner.’”

…It turned out, of course, that Mr. Romney was talking about an audiotape released Monday from Mr. bin Laden calling on insurgents in Iraq to unite.

Kevin Madden, a campaign spokesman, said, “Governor Romney simply misspoke,” calling the comment a “brief mix-up.”

No wonder people don’t believe Romney’s conversion to being anti-abortion is authentic. He said “Osam” before “Obama” and included “Barack” twice, which sounds nothing like Osama bin Laden. What’s funny is that there’s no tactical reason to attack Obama, who is running a terrible campaign and seems unlikely to defeat Hillary. But it’s a useful signal to the right that Romney will play hardball with Democrats.