File Under "What Was He Thinking?"

Romney's gaffes quickly derail publicity ride on T

Gov. Mitt Romney's common-man subway ride to tout security turned into a PR nightmare for him and his $350,000 image team yesterday after he flubbed the price of a T token and was heckled by the Beacon Hill "cat lady" who told him to "get a job."

Apparently, his advance team forgot to clear the T of commoners and riff-raff before he and the Lt. Governor went on their "big" subway adventure.

"A buck," Romney replied when a reporter asked what a token costs. When told it is $1.25, the governor chuckled and flipped a quarter into the crowd.

Minutes later, Heidi Erickson, who once kept sick and dead cats in her Beacon Hill home, yelled at Romney: "You killed my cats."

The gaffes come just days after the Herald exposed Romney's 13-person, $350,000 "advance team," a cadre of taxpayer-funded political operatives who prep the governor for public appearances.

Romney rode the Red Line one stop from Park Street to Downtown Crossing as a "thank you" to T employees and to calm fears.

Park Street to Downtown Crossing? Are you serious, Mitt?

That's pretty weak.