Obama strategist David Axelrod tweeted a not-quite-decipherable message Monday that included a link to a story about Mormon women being erroneously barred from some official ceremonies because they were menstruating. Then he deleted the tweet. What does it all mean?!

"Wring URS. This is the Medicare story," Axelrod tweeted at 2:36p.m. with a link to the Salt Lake Tribune story, "Menstruating Mormons barred from temple proxy baptisms?" In that story, Peggy Fletcher Stack, reports:

Mormon feminists recently learned that some young women were wrongly blocked from doing LDS proxy baptisms – which include wearing all-white clothing and being fully immersed in water – because they were menstruating... Trouble is, such a ban is bogus. 

Interesting story, but it's not clear why Axelrod would link to it.

One theory is that he has a long history of antagonizing Mitt Romney on Twitter "If Twitter Is Any Clue, Axelrod Thinks a Lot About Romney," The New York Times noticed in January. That same month, Axelrod posted a tongue-in-cheek tweet about the proper way to take dogs on a road trip, a not so subtle reference to Crate-gate. But a Tweet about Mormon women being barred from LDS rituals due to their periods is something else entirely. What does "wring" mean? And what is URS? We may never know: Axelrod quickly deleted it. (But you can see it at left.) Then followed-up at 3:25p.m., "This is proper link to Medicare story. Mitt won't take it, but most Americans would lose under Mitt-Ryan voucher." That tweet linked to a report Politico's Jennifer Haberkorn about Romney deciding not to enroll in Medicare on Monday, his 65th birthday.

Since nothing that's been on the internet ever really disappears, we have the chance to analyze it. Three conclusions to be drawn from this tweet, from least innocent to most: 

1. It was an on-purpose accident: Axelrod wanted  to promote the idea that Mormons are weird (which the campaign supposedly considered promoting) and tie it to the Republican war on women. 

2. It was a Twitter mistake: Axelrod was trying to send a direct message to an Obama 2012 staffer, like, "how can we use the Mormon issue?" but sent it wide.

3. It was a major Twitter mistake: Like all compulsive tweeters, Axelrod sends his friends links to weird things on Twitter, and experienced a direct message and link-shortening fail. 

Update: Obama's campaign emails: "David mistakenly tweeted out a link to the wrong story and immediately corrected it." 

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Elspeth Reeve