Washington: Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney`s bid for the White House has suffered a setback after America`s leading right-wing newspaper criticised his campaign as ``politically dumb``.
According to The Telegraph, in a blistering editorial, the Wall Street Journal said that Romney was ``squandering an historic opportunity`` to beat President Barack Obama.
Its editorial board, one of the most influential voices on the American Right, said Romney must stop making errors and start outlining how he would lift the US out of economic woe.
"Mr Romney promised Republicans he was the best man to make the case against President Obama, whom they desperately want to defeat. So far Romney is letting them down," the editorial said.
The article came amid uneasiness about the Romney campaign from prominent conservatives, and pressure from Obama about his finances and the release of some encouraging economic data.
Anxious conservatives are also voicing concerns about Romney. Rupert Murdoch, the Wall Street Journal`s owner, also criticised Romney via Twitter for not looking like a ``challenger`` and for ``playing everything safe``.
His newspaper`s attack centred on Romney`s fumbled response to the Supreme Court`s upholding of Obama`s controversial health insurance ``mandate``, which the court effectively redefined as a tax.
The Wall Street Journal said that Romney was turning ``the only possible silver lining`` in the ruling, "that the mandate to buy insurance or pay a penalty is really a tax, into a second political defeat".
ANI
