len Johnson at the Boston Globe's "Political Intelligence" blog posts that Mitt Romney suggested Friday night that a misery index should be hung around Barack Obama's neck:

"You remember during the Ronald Reagan/Jimmy Carter debates? That Ronald Reagan came up with this great thing about the 'misery index,' and that he hung that around Jimmy Carter's neck, and that had a lot to do with Jimmy Carter losing. Well, we're going to have to hang the 'Obama Misery Index' around his neck. And, I'll tell you, the fact that you've got people in this country, really squeezed, with gasoline getting so expensive, with commodities getting so expensive, families are having a hard time making ends meet. So, we're going to have to talk about that, and housing foreclosures and bankruptcies and higher taxation. We're going to hang him — so to speak, metaphorically — with — you have to be careful."

Johnson noted that "the mix of nervous laughter with applause indicated at least some in the audience realized its potency."

"Potency"? Yeah. That's what brought on the applause. Riiiiiiight.len Johnson at the Boston Globe's "Political Intelligence" blog posts that Mitt Romney suggested Friday night that a misery index should be hung around Barack Obama's neck:

"You remember during the Ronald Reagan/Jimmy Carter debates? That Ronald Reagan came up with this great thing about the 'misery index,' and that he hung that around Jimmy Carter's neck, and that had a lot to do with Jimmy Carter losing. Well, we're going to have to hang the 'Obama Misery Index' around his neck. And, I'll tell you, the fact that you've got people in this country, really squeezed, with gasoline getting so expensive, with commodities getting so expensive, families are having a hard time making ends meet. So, we're going to have to talk about that, and housing foreclosures and bankruptcies and higher taxation. We're going to hang him — so to speak, metaphorically — with — you have to be careful."

Johnson noted that "the mix of nervous laughter with applause indicated at least some in the audience realized its potency."

"Potency"? Yeah. That's what brought on the applause. Riiiiiiight.