Mitt Romney took a break from debate prep this morning in Daytona Beach, Florida, to briefly observe a flag football match between his staff and the journalists tasked with shouting questions at them all day. Team Romney included Senator Rob Portman, communications director Gail Gitcho, strategist Ed Gillespie, adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, campaign chairman Bob White, and some junior staffers. (At one point, Romney asked, “Where’s Chris Christie when we need him?”) Team Media consisted of the New York Times’ Ashley Parker and a bunch of reporters who were not identified by name in the pool report (lucky them.) The Republican candidate — sportily dressed in “black shorts, a black Adidas T-shirt, and gray sneakers” — did not actually play, though he oversaw the game’s coin toss (the press corps won that by calling “tails”) and handed out bracelets bearing a bastardized version of the Friday Night Lights motto (“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, America Can’t Lose”). Of course, the reporters tried to ask some non-football related questions and (of course) Romney declined to answer them. The game ended in a 14–14 tie, which seems like an apt metaphor for something.
