Gotcha Morning | Mitt Romney's NAACP Fail

The general consensus in the media today is that Mitt Romney's speech at the NAACP convention in Houston yesterday did not go as well as it could have. Immediately following the speech, which produced several bouts of audience boos and incredulous laughs, Romney told Neil Cavuto that he "expected" that antagonistic reception, but chose not to alter his speech from what he tells all crowds across the country. While noble in theory, he could have prevented some embarrassment by keeping his message positive and refraining from openly mocking the first African-American President of the United States.

The team from ThinkProgress was on hand to get reactions from members who attended the speech. Their sentiments reflected the official statement from the NAACP itself:

“This morning Governor Romney laid out his policy agenda for this nation. Unfortunately, much of his agenda is at odds with what the NAACP stands for – whether the issue is equal access to affordable health care, reforming our education system or the path forward on marriage equality. We appreciate that he was courageous and took the opportunity to speak with us directly.”

Nancy Pelosi took a decidedly more cynical view of the whole thing, claiming that the booing was a "calculated move" on Romney's part. It's not entirely clear what Romney hoped to achieve, but Lawrence O'Donnell picked up on the thread on his show later in the evening.

Other pundits and commentators spent the evening analyzing the event, including Bill O'Reilly who praised Romney's "bravery" and former Politico reporter Joe Williams who felt the comments he made about Romney's discomfort around black people that got him fired were ultimately vindicated.

The only late night hosts to take on Romney's NAACP speech in a big way were Jimmy Kimmel who showed what we couldn't see of the audience reaction and Jay Leno who questioned the choice of organ music.

In the end, the negative impact of Mitt Romney's dismal reception being broadcast on live TV and all over the web today has to outweigh any positive effect from him just showing up (or motivated a racist base). Romney needs all the votes he can get in crucial swing states like North Carolina and Virginia and today he lost any African-American support he hoped to gain.