In Campaign Circle of Life, It's a Gaffe Eat Gaffe World

With too many blunders to even remember from the Mitt Romney campaign it's about time a big one was pulled by sitting president.

With too many blunders to even remember from the Mitt Romney campaign it's about time a big one was pulled by sitting president. That came in the form of Obama saying "The private sector is fine," which sure, made sense in context but was quickly turned into a full-fledged gaffe in the matter of hours. Jon Stewart took a look at its life stages on yesterday's Daily Show.

First was its "Birth," during a presser on the bad job growth, followed a "Growth" stage in which it was turned into political attack ad from the Romney camp near instantaneously. "It seems like just yesterday it was a gaffe," quips Stewart. "But it wasn't even yesterday, it was two-and-a-half hours ago." Then there's the inevitable Stage 3, the "Walkback" of the statement where president clarifies that "The economy is not doing fine." And finally, Stage 4, the "Measurement," where the media's picks over the carcass of the now-dead misstep to assess how bad it truly was. The beauty of this ecosystem? Before Obama's gaffe was even over, Romney gave birth to his own by saying that America didn't need to hire more policemen, firemen, and teachers -- and soon Obama's statement was long forgotten, by the television media at least. Cue the "Circle of Life" soundtrack.