A senior Mitt Romney adviser handed a gift to the frontrunner’s opponents on Wednesday when he compared Romney’s campaign to an Etch A Sketch, a toy that quickly and easily erases and redraws images. The comment was meant to illustrate how the campaign would adjust after the primaries for a general election, but it has played into the greatest fears that Republicans and all voters have about Romney’s perceived lack of authenticity and conviction.

“Everything changes,” said campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, referring to the prospect of a general election in the fall. ”It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again.”

Romney’s critics, especially rival Rick Santorum, pounced immediately. The New York Times reports:

“You take whatever he said and you can shake it up and it will be gone and he’s going to draw a whole new picture for the general election,” Mr. Santorum said while campaigning in Louisiana, which votes Saturday. “Well, that should be comforting to all of you who are voting in this primary.”

The article also notes that the campaign passed out Etch-A-Sketches to reporters. Newt Gingrich also jumped on the trend, wielding the toy onstage at campaign stops. Even liberal activists picked up the gimmick, as protesters used the props in a demonstration against Romney’s stance on abortion.

What do you think? Is Romney really the Etch A Sketch candidate?

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