A week ago, the tide seemed to be running relentlessly against President Obama and Democrats - the private sector was not "doing fine," economic indicators were going the wrong way, and then Mr. Obama made a surprise announcement on how the feds would deal with some younger illegal immigrants.
The announcement obviously caught Republicans flat-footed, including GOP leaders in the Congress and Mitt Romney. Instead of it being a one-day story, the campaign narrative this week has turned into one of wondering why Romney and his allies haven't come up with a unified message to push back against Obama's move.
On Wednesday, the Romney campaign held a conference call on economic matters, still hoping to take advantage of the President's verbal gaffe earlier this month about how well the private sector was doing.
But the generals were fighting the last war with that conference call, as reporters kept asking questions about the immigration matter, prompting Romney officials to end the call early.
Today, Romney gets a chance to address the immigration issue during a speech in Florida to a Latino group; President Obama will speak there on Friday.
But the question is a legitimate one - should Romney and GOP leaders still be trying to figure out what to say six days later?
That's where Romney finds himself this morning.
Not only was the immigration issue tricky enough, but then Romney himself this week had to address reports that Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida - a darling of the hispanic community - might not even be on the short list for Vice President (as many had assumed.)
The events of the past week are a reminder that just as the tide ebbs and flows on the beach, it ebbs and flows in the political realm as well.
Sometimes you can't buy a break; sometimes the other guy just seems to step in it for days on end.
The President had a pretty rotten late May and early June - we will see if Romney can stop the bleeding with his speech today.
Will this issue really matter in the months ahead? Maybe it won't. But a lot will depend on how Republicans deal with it.
If they can't seem to come up with a coherent message, it shows the Obama campaign that the more diversions they create on issues other than the economy, the less sure-footed Romney seems to become.
And if that's the case, look for the Democrats to keep talking about everything else - while Republicans try to keep the focus on jobs and economic issues.
