Mitt Romney, recognizing that he stepped in it by refusing to endorse an anti-union ballot measure in Ohio while standing in the Republican Party HQ, where they were phone banking on that ballot measure, reversed course today, and desperately tried to associate himself with the initiative, which is doomed to go down to defeat in two weeks time.

“I fully support Gov. Kasich’s Question 2 in Ohio,” Romney said at a campaign stop in Virginia Wednesday. “I’m sorry if I created any confusion there.”

Romney said he did not want to weigh in on the other Ohio ballot issues and meant to express his lack of familiarity with those issues on Tuesday.

TPM 2012 has video of the exchange. This is of course something he could have said yesterday, when he was, you know, in Ohio, instead of waiting until the outrage meter pinned on the right to “clarify” the remarks.

Given the unbridled anger that came out after Romney refused to endorse yesterday, I don’t think this will placate them. The original sin matters far more than the clean-up. Loyalty is cherished on the right as much as anything. So Romney screwed himself with the base, and forced himself to deliver a full-throated endorsement of an unpopular governor in an important swing state, and his equally unpopular attack on public safety officials and teachers. Heckuva job!

Just wait until Romney has to deal with the flat tax.

You get the sense that conservatives would rather nominate a book by Hayek for President than any of the flesh and blood candidates.