Still losing.

Still losing.

Campaign officials said any change will be confined by Romney’s own cautious nature. And they are candid that their electoral map still looks terrible: Romney is behind in nearly every vital state. Ohio still looks very tough to win and New Hampshire, once a possibility, looks very bleak, officials say.

But one big reason for hope inside the Romney campaign is that conservatives were so down on the campaign before the debate — and so rapturous during it — that they will give him a lot of maneuvering room to talk in more moderate ways.

This is how they fire up the troops?So yeah, they know they are still losing. But there's a silver lining!So they're losing, and one of the reasons they are losing is that the nation got too much severe conservatism. But now, since he (metaphorically) punched President Barack Obama in the debates, conservatives will be more likely to let Romney wield his Etch-a-Sketch and move left.

Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Either way, that electoral map hasn't gotten any easier.