Reporters complain that Romney’s too robotic and Obama’s too detached. But given that media’s extensive coverage of gaffes so far, including at The Huffington Post, the chances of unscripted moments or off-the-cuff question-and-answer sessions seem likely to grow more remote from now until November. Reporters, in short, may be facilitating the very reality they detest.

“The energy of the press corps is to find the silliest and most twistable thing said on any given day and run with that,” said longtime Republican consultant Steve Schmidt. “And the end product is that candidates are going to be more closed off from the press.”…

“I don’t think politicians collectively today make any more gaffes than 2008, or 2004, or 2000, or ’96 or ’92,” said Jonathan Prince, who was John Edwards’ deputy campaign manager in 2008 Democratic presidential primary. “I think one thing has changed: it’s easier for the press and opposing campaigns (and their super PAC affiliates) to discover gaffes and easier — and faster — for them to spread, or be promulgated.”