Thanks, Michael, for using your post to give fuller context to those quotes I referenced. And I was wrong to write that the press characterized Romney as having a specific date in mind — that was sloppy and I’ve fixed the language. But I do think the media portrayed him as, at the very least, contemplating a withdrawal. But my point wasn’t really about what Romney did or didn’t mean by his statement; rather, I just wanted to suggest that Romney capitalized on the ambiguity of his position in April 2007, whatever his position is now.
I probably wrote more than I needed to to make this simple point. And your last point is especially salient, so I won’t write any more.