PR goofs? What might those be? I can think of one, and then a handful of exaggerations and rhetoric from handwringers.
That's the one. And you're right, the spin from the Libs / Left has exagerated things. But it was definitely a PR goof.
On a random note, i was podcasting rush, and earlier this week rush called Allen the only reagan conservative by leaps and bounds in the race and nobody even comes close. He said something to the extent of, i suppose romney would come in second after pausing for a bit.