One thing political observers sometimes have to remind themselves of is that no matter how quickly an issue might become the topic of intense discussion among insiders, it always takes a while for the substance of it to sink in with voters who are going about their everyday lives. That seems to be the case with the question of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital.

On Thursday, I called a number of officials in Georgetown County, South Carolina to ask their thoughts on Bain’s connection to the steel mill there.  They didn’t know about it.  “This is the first I’ve ever heard about Bain having to do with the steel mill,” said one.  They hadn’t been following the national political debate on the topic, and the local papers had not reported it.