Mitt Romney had a decent shot at owning the news cycle Thursday when he hosted a press conference in front of Solyndra, every conservative's favorite (Obama) mistake. Talk about bad timing.

The photo op that arose from it made for some good optics, and we hadn't talked about Obama's investments in green energy, some of which go to companies whose ideas fail, in, oh, months (the news that federally subsidized Solyndra filed for bankruptcy happened months ago.) And yet, the moment went awry thanks to John Edwards.

Yes, yes, Romney's moment was blown away by news that the John Edwards jury had ... done nothing. They'd done nothing. Well, not nothing, but they announced they had a verdict, sending reporters and cable news networks into a fit, and then they announced they only had one of six verdicts, and so back they went to the jury room. Meanwhile, Romney's elevator-pitching party mate George W. Bush appeared at the White House and was surprisingly and delightfully charming. As The Guardian's Ana Marie Cox summed up on Twitter, "Mitt Romney called, he'd like his news cycle back." Romney's news cycle was a thin one to be sure -- haven't we had the Solyndra fight already? --  so it's not surprising that it was so easily blown away, but still, things looked good for awhile there. 

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