Eleanor Clift Shocker: 'Romney Is in Better Shape Than Clinton in 1992 or Reagan in 1980'

Here's something you don't see every day from an Obama-loving media member.

Newsweek's Eleanor Clift actually wrote Sunday, "Romney is in better shape than Bill Clinton in 1992, or Ronald Reagan in 1980."

To be fair, she was quoting Sam Popkin, a political-science professor at the University of California at San Diego.

But the very thought she'd give precious print space to someone with such a view seems quite shocking, as did the following:

Clinton was called unelectable, and after winning the nomination, he was running third in the polls behind Texas billionaire Ross Perot and George H.W. Bush. Reagan was seen as so vulnerable because of his age and cowboy image (“Governor Reagan can’t start a war, President Reagan can”) that party leaders talked about putting former president Gerald Ford on the ticket to prop him up; instead Reagan had to take Bush, his biggest rival, to placate the party.

Not only does Clift believe Popkin, she actually sees Romney as a "plausible president":

Romney is a plausible president by any measure, and whether he reaches the Oval Office will hinge on factors mainly out of his control, along with the willingness of voters to give him a second look after a disastrous primary season.

Somebody pinch me.