Okay, this could be Mitt Romney’s largest stumble of this Presidential election year.

Romney may have made the biggest mistake of his campaign, when he threw away the vote of those who are open-mindedly interested in or fans of Sasquatch and Bigfoot. Doesn’t Romney’s advance people know that Finding Bigfoot is Animal Planet’s #1-rated program? Did Romney not realize that his statement at a recent South Carolina debate might cost him vast sections of the popular vote in this Saturday’s primary?

What was he thinking?

It happened during the debate that avoided for a time the elephant (the issue of SuperPACs) in the middle of the room appearing, and instead allowed a Bigfoot to stomp onto the stage, figuratively speaking.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were arguing back and forth about whose SuperPAC ads were misrepresenting the other guy the most, and who had the least amount of control over them, when it occurred.

Mitt Romney, son of Michigan, former Governor of Massachusetts, founder of the investment firm Bain Capital, and president of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, turned the attack back on Gingrich. Romney said, “You have a SuperPAC that attacks me, with probably the biggest hoax since Bigfoot.”

The “biggest hoax since Bigfoot”? What? Television viewers around the country were heard to grasp outloud!

Again, I must ask, What was Mitt thinking?

It remains to be seen how damaging this will be to Romney’s campaign.

As some political blogs and observers have noted, Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, needs to be careful about using the word “hoax,” as it leaves him open to the talk by the Christian Right stating that the number one hoax of all time allegedly is the Book of Mormon (see Top Ten Famous Hoaxes).