I don't think you should take Romney's (or any other American presidential candidate's who isn't already president) remarks during the campaign too seriously, or see them as too indicative of what he'll be like as a president. As long as it doesn't roam into completely braindead or extremely offensive territory (Rick Perry's blathering about Turkey comes to mind on both counts, but then there's a reason his campaign didn't go anywhere), it's not a big deal.

And of course Tom does have a point that the field is always stacked against Republican presidents in the press abroad.