Financial Times exposes the festering wound to sunlight:

Several Republican foreign policy heavyweights were derisive of the Romney campaign’s attempt to take political advantage of an unfolding situation, with one calling it “campaign malpractice of the worst form”.

…

Richard Armitage, a former Bush administration official and a foreign policy adviser to Republican John McCain during his 2008 presidential bid, said: “I bet the Romney camp wishes it had those initial statements back so they could now express the proper condolences for the loss of life of our diplomats.”

Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman who now hosts a popular political show on cable television, said that he had been “inundated with emails
and calls from elected GOP leaders who think Romney’s response was a mistake”.

It’s looking more and more like Romney really stepped in it.