A Succession of Gaffes

Jonathan Chait on the importance of political screwups:

Michael Kinsley once famously defined a gaffe as when a politician tells the truth — not the truth about the world, but a true version of what he believes. The aphorism has been endlessly repeated. It’s actually among the least interesting observations in the column. (It’s only partially true: Many gaffes involve a politician saying something they don’t believe — say, Obama’s claim that the private sector is “fine,” Romney saying he enjoys firing people, and so on.) The rest of the column is actually a masterpiece, and still, 28 years later, the best exegesis of how gaffes work.

This is essentially in response to Obama's politically dangerous remark last week about business owners.