( CNN ) -- This election should have been a walkover for the Republicans . The economy is sluggish and the United States is beset with crises abroad . Yet , Mitt Romney has committed one gaffe after another , almost as if he actually wants to lose . Perhaps the multi-millionaire has decided that the White House is too small for him . On Monday night , Romney was hit with what we might call a `` pre-gaffe '' when a private statement that he made months ago suddenly hit the Web . The video shows Romney apparently dismissing the 47 % of Americans who he says do n't pay federal income taxes as freeloaders . For someone who is often portrayed as cynical and uncaring , this is not good news . What will we see next ? Leaked footage of Romney stealing candy from a baby ? There 's cause for Republicans to panic . Some commentators are starting to ask , `` Did Romney just lose the election ? '' When I first saw the `` 47 % '' video , I wrote that it had to damage Romney 's already poor likeability ratings and maybe even cost him the White House . But , after a couple of days of reflection , I think there 's still reason for Republicans to have hope . Not least because the polls point to a closer election than the headlines do . But I 'll come to that in a moment . First , it 's helpful to put the `` 47 % '' speech into historical perspective , which suggests that `` gaffes never matter . '' Every campaign has a moment when the candidate says something they should n't have , and it is n't necessarily the end of the road . Opinion : Romney better off as a Latino ? In April 2008 , in the middle of his primary race against Hillary Clinton , Barack Obama gave a speech in which he said that poverty caused `` bitter '' people to `` cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who are n't like them . '' His opponents went wild , but this kind of `` cat out of the bag '' statement tends to matter far more to fervent activists than it does to ordinary voters . After all , Obama won the primary and the general election . Four years later , it 's only Republican activists who still say they are `` proud to be clinging to my guns and religion '' -- as if the statement has any contemporary relevance . In 2016 , Democratic activists will probably be driving around with faded bumper stickers that read , `` 47 Percent -- And Proud ! '' The rest of us will have long forgotten what that means . Over time , sober analysis might slowly turn in Romney 's favor , too . Consider how Obama 's words were taken out of context . He was really making a case for why liberals had to renew their efforts to improve people 's finances , `` to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there 's not evidence of that in their daily lives . '' Likewise , Romney was actually arguing that there was no point pitching his low tax policy to the 47 % of Americans who already do n't pay income taxes because ... they do n't pay taxes . What he meant by `` I do n't have to worry about them , '' was that he did n't need to court their vote . He was n't saying that if he saw them begging in the street he 'd drive his limo straight on by . In fact , the `` 47 % '' speech reads a lot better on the page than it sounds on the video . Part of Romney 's problem is n't the content of his ideas , but the ubiquitous context of wealth and power . His host was a one-percenter with a taste for extravagant parties , and Romney delivered his line as if sharing the inner workings of a Ponzi scheme . Despite Romney 's personality problem , he is n't doing nearly as badly in the polls as the punditry suggests . In fact , the day after the 47 % video leaked , Gallup released a poll that showed the president only 1 percentage point ahead of the Republican challenger . Ironically , the pollster also reported that he has surprising support among people with low incomes . This would seem to prove that Obama 's convention bounce was only temporary and that he remains vulnerable . More importantly , the public has n't punished Romney for a serious gaffe he made over Egypt . Critics accused him of jumping the gun when he lambasted a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo condemning a film considered offensive to Islam -- protests against which later resulted in the death of four Americans in Libya . If they 're prepared to forgive him for that snafu , perhaps they 'll ignore this one , too . Take a look at the electoral map and you 'll see that Obama has momentum in the swing states . But not much . According to RealClearPolitics ' average of polls , he 's ahead 4.2 percentage points in Ohio , 3 points in Virginia , 2.7 points in Wisconsin , and 1.4 points in Florida . That puts Romney well within striking distance and that 's even before he 's had a chance to land some punches in the debates . Opinion : How Romney really feels about Republicans . Never underestimate the power of events or the flexibility of polls . We do n't know what 's going to happen between now and November , and the recent crises in the Middle East show how unsettled things are . Around this point in 1980 , Carter was running even with Reagan . Things changed then ; things can change now . Ultimately , Romney still has an advantage when it comes to the grand narrative of this campaign . A lot of the 2012 election has been about character and culture -- which candidate do you like best and where do they stand on same-sex marriage or abortion . But voters consistently tell pollsters that the issue they really care about is the economy . As long as they actually vote on that matter -- and as long as unemployment remains high -- Romney is in with a chance . Republicans should n't give up hope just yet . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Timothy Stanley .
Tim Stanley : Mitt Romney 's secretly racist comments help his campaign but are n't fatal . He says Romney may find , like other politicians , that gaffes often do n't stick . Polls in recent days show the race remains close , Stanley says . Stanley : Voters remain focused mostly on the economy , and that could be a Romney issue .