It’s fascinating watching how this election is shaping up. Romney’s on fire. Obama is flailing. The left is demoralized. And the only people helping Obama are right-wing talk radio and one Barbarian RINO. These are interesting times.
Watching the Republicans attack has been refreshing. For decades, the Republicans played the game of trying to be the nice guy. . . the Charlie Brown of politics. It never worked. This time is different. Indeed, Romney has been savaging Obama every single day on every issue that comes up. He’s pounded away on the economy, on the lack of jobs, on Obama politicizing the killing of bin Laden, etc.
He called Obama’s mishandling of the protection of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng “a dark day for freedom” and “a day of shame.” He blasted Obama’s attempt to find good news in April’s disastrous employment report (which shows both 8.1% unemployment and a record number of workers giving up trying to find jobs) and said “President Obama is out of ideas, he's out of excuses.”
He’s been verbally clever too, like when he flipped Obama’s claim Romney would not have killed bin Laden by both blasting the claim as politicizing military action and by implying that Obama doesn’t seem to realize he’s bragging about something truly anyone would have done: “Of course [I would have given that order]. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.” This makes Obama sound like quite a fool.
Moreover, he’s attacked the little things through surrogates, like how his people accused Obama of eating dog and how they’ve blasted his laughable new campaign slogan “Forward” because of its socialist roots. These attacks have dominated the new cycle sometimes for days and can’t be linked back to Romney by the general public.
At the same time, a bevy of Republicans in battleground states (and more) are blasting Obama on behalf of Romney: Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Kelly Ayotte, Bobby Jindal, Bob McConnell and more are all constantly attacking Obama. Rubio called Obama “divisive” and “cynical” and said he pits Americans against each other. “All the things that made him different and special four years ago are gone. And now all he does is run, dividing Americans against each other, obviously because he can't run on his record.” Then he added about Obama’s foreign policy, “there’s this propensity that this administration seems to have of an unwillingness to forcefully assert America's values.”
Kelly Ayotte blasted Obama’s Iran policy and accused him of remaining silent as the people of Iran sought free elections. She even suggested he could have solved the nuclear problem if he’d acted then. And she said she is more qualified to be President than Obama was in 2008.
Obama’s Julia ad brought dismissive attacks across the board from the right (a new tactic for conservatives). National Review called it “creepy” and “the perfect example of [Obama’s] cradle-to-grave welfare mentality.” Others called it sexist and pointed out the irony or portraying Julia as “a strong, independent woman” and then showing her life depending on Obama’s paternalism. Human Events called it “offensively patronizing.” Paul Ryan called the Julia website “creepy and demeaning.” He added this: “It suggests that this woman can’t go anywhere in life without Barack Obama’s government-centered society. It’s kind of demeaning to her. She must have him and his big government to depend on to go anywhere in life. It doesn’t say much about his faith in Julia.”
And many of these attacks have gotten under Obama’s skin. A good example was Romney parking his campaign bus across from where Obama planned to start his campaign. The news cycle spent more time mentioning this sleight than it did what Obama said. Fox has even noticed that Obama is suffering from early-on-set Romney Derangement Syndrome, which is causing him to take inappropriate personal shots at Romney and sink to defending things Presidents normally ignore.
Obama, by the way, can’t find a message. Nor has he found a way to counterattack. He tried the “out-of-touch rich, white guy” bit and that didn’t work. “Dangerous extremist” didn’t work either. The war on women imploded, so did the Trayvon Martin race war. Now he’s reduced (I kid you not) to “don’t take a chance on Romney.” That’s what Sarkozy tried. . . and Gordon Brown. . . and George Bush Sr.
Meanwhile, places like Politico are adrift. Obama has given them nothing, and all they can do is try to explain away the bad news. Obama kicked off his campaign to empty stadiums, so they ran Axelrod’s claim that it was the intensity which matters. Sure. They had Axelrod explain why Obama wasn’t really spiking the ball (again and again) by trying to claim credit for the killing of bin Laden. They whined that the Keystone Pipeline guys are overselling how many jobs Obama killed, and the attacks on the Julia website aren’t entirely fair. Robert DeNiro likes Obama again, did you know that? Oh, and Hispanics might be critical in the election. . . maybe. Hey, Romney had a gay staffer? That should bother you religious nuts, right? Ann Romney spends a lot on clothes! Come on people! //sigh
In fact, right now the best friends Obama has are uberRINOs like Arnold Schwarzenegger, who fears people with principles and spent the weekend attacking the GOP as “too narrow and too rigid,” and people like talk radio. Indeed, talk radio and websites like HotAir are spending their time cherry-picking words out of the quotes of unnamed Romney staffers so they can prove his move to the center. . . he’s the real Alinsky Trojan Horse people!!! Fortunately, their idiotic bleating will only make Romney more acceptable to independents. . . assuming anyone is listening.
In any event, I shall leave you with this. I said the other day that this race really comes down to Ohio and Florida, and that still seems to be true. But the way things are going, I’m starting to wonder if that might not be too pessimistic? And before you say, “but the polls,” consider this. . . when the polls are normed to reflect the population, they use turn-out figures from the 2008 election, which was disproportionately Democratic. Think that will happen again?
Monday, May 7, 2012
Early-On-Set Romney Derangement Syndrome
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FYI, tomorrow's Politics of Trek episode will be "A Taste of Armageddon" (LINK) for those who want to see it first.
Also, for Friday, the film will be Triangle. (LINK) I recommend seeing it before the review. It's been on Showtime at the moment.
good post, Andrew. It made me think about how the lame streams are doing everything possible to cover everything BUT national politics. As a long time Republican, I have a bad habit of pessimism, but I know what you mean. This could turn out to be a rout against the incumbant. :)
Andrew - I'll be away most of this week, but should at least catch your Trek post tomorrow.
I hear what you're saying, Andrew, but when is Romney going to really get tough Obama? The president is going to run a nasty campaign and Romney needs to get just as nasty if he wants to win. So far, Romney has only proven that he can trash Rick Santorum, which was totally unfair, BTW. That sort of nastiness really turns voters off. /sarc
Oh, sorry, I've been listening to RWR again.
tryanmax, You could be on the radio! LOL! I've heard that very same line from Laura Ingraham I think. I'm amazed how hard some of them are working to ignore things Romney says and does just so they can claim he's not doing anything. It's honestly as bad as the regular MSM.
Andrew, Excellent post. I've noticed the same thing. It seems that every time I turn around there 2-3 Republicans blasting away at Obama, and Obama has no idea how to respond. It's been refreshing. And when the left is reduced to arguing "uh, gee, uh, they aren't being fair" then you know they're in trouble.
What is amazing is RWR is trying to be the leaders of an essentially leaderless movement. The Tea Party. The Tea Party would prefer a rabid conservative, but the Legacy Media is primed and ready to go after such a character. From making up stories, to opposition research for the Democrats. Romney is too nice of a guy to go after. His personal rags to riches story, the Legacy Media dare not touch too much, because it is the Algier Hiss stories coupled with Parental notification to Child, "You are on your own, we will help when you stumble, but not much more."
I truly believe that Romney is the absolute best candidate that we could have gotten. According to J.R. Dunn he is fully satisfied with Romney. Dunn still thinks Romney is not that conservative. I really do think that calling Romney a moderate and every one chiming in works to his advantage.
Joel, I agree that Romney is the perfect candidate to go after Obama, especially since he's gotten a lot better at fighting since 2008. There's nothing for Obama to latch onto to attack him, but at the same time, Romney is really good at ripping into Obama's failures.
I must be spending too much time in my writing cave. Who's Julia? *Googling now*
I know that polls are skewed but given Obama's absolutely abysmal performance and record, I'd like to see Romney higher in the polls. At this point, I think a ham sandwich should be able to beat Obama in the election.
Jed, I share your cynicism and caution. The Republicans have been very, very good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. What I'm sensing this time, however, is different. For the first time in my lifetime, I'm seeing the Republicans presenting a unified attack. And not only that, they've been attacking in strong ways they never have in the past -- in the past they were always too clinical. It's like a new generation.
I just saw a poll which shows that in the swing states, Romney beats Obama heavily in the ability to lead and fix the economy. On "likability," Obama handily beats Romney. I hope those potential voters aren't so shallow that they will vote for the guy they like rather than the guy they need.
hell, Andrew-- so far their best shot has been "Dogs against Romney." Nothing says "it's the economy, stupid, better not run on your record" than that.
tryanmax, You should have your own radio show! Every time I've tuned in lately (often not by choice), all I've heard is then fixating on obscure quotes from aides which they have spun into Romney basically running to Obama's left. It's like they are completely blind to everything else he's said and done.
Jed, That's the kind of thing I'm talking about, as well as attacking the Julia website as "creepy." That's not how the Republicans have done it in the past. Instead, they would stand around and try to debunk (in a technical manner) what Obama said. These attacks are fluid, biting, and media savvy. I'm truly impressed.
We are in a grey area right now. Though Romney is the presumptive candidate, he is not the official candidate. You realize that Paul is still running.
What is interesting and great is that the Romney camp learned a lot during the primary about the Dems "Whack-A-Mole" campaign style and is using it with great effect. He and his team are whacking right back hard at every campaign idea that is surfacing out of the Obama hole. Let's hope he keeps it up and continues to keep the focus on the failed policies of the Obama administration et al.
DUQ, Obama really has been stymied. He's got no obvious line of attack except: Romney's a big old rich white dude. Yeah, ok, that's what America wants right now -- a CEO.
And Romney's tactics are truly flustering Obama because he's mastered grabbing the news cycle away form Obama. By parking his bus there, for example, he got the media to report on that rather than what Obama said. By having people follow Obama around, they are getting the first crack at telling the MSM what to think and that's resulting in Obama not getting a single story without a Romney person offering a counter view. By diving into things Democrats normally attack with, but have never had to defend against, he's completely gotten under Obama's skin. They are literally complaining that these attacks aren't "fair." Ha!
I'm beginning to develop a different understanding of the MSM+Democrat love affair. It seems that journalistic laziness is greater than party devotion.
Joel, I agree. Romney is a hard target for the MSM. He's accomplished. He's a nice guy. He's got no skeletons in his closet. He's hard to parody because he's so bland. He's the perfect CEO. And all the attacks they've tried have only reinforced this because he's starting to look like he's made of teflon. There comes a point where they will try truly vile and untrue attacks and that will only rally people to him.
Thanks for the link to the Dunn article. I agree with much of what he says. I particularly like this:
First, he does not miss a trick. At the height of the Santorum's primary campaign, Romney managed to outdo him by the stratagem of sending one of his sons to campaign in the Marianas, picking up 9 delegates and added momentum. This is something that would never have occurred to the conventional Republican political technician, most of whom have no idea where the Marianas are. It's a swashbuckler's move, bold and imaginative in a way that we haven't seen much of in recent years. The fact that Romney pulled it off without getting anything in the way of credit for it says more about the current political culture than it does about Mitt Romney. (Under ordinary circumstances, Newt could be expected to admire such a move. I have no doubt that Newt knows exactly where the Marianas are, and may be thinking about building a spaceport there.)
Romney does not apologize. When caught out in a faux pas (as when he mentioned his three -- or was it five? -- Cadoos) he does not get flustered; he does not allow himself to be cornered; he just smiles and moves on. When is the last time we saw this level of confidence in a candidate?
The same is true of the killer instinct, which Romney undoubtedly possesses, in contrast to just about every other visible candidate. Also beyond doubt is his ability to control it. He knows exactly how hard to strike, where, and how many times, with the precision and finesse of a 17th-century samurai. When the Romney PACs cut loose on Santorum and Gingrich, they blasted away just long enough to inflict mortal wounds without making a spectacle out of it. Romney got all the benefit he required without in the least tainting his brand.
The point is that Romney has become something of a master campaigner, of a type that we have not seen in a long time. He knows exactly what cards are on the table and who is holding which ones, and he lays down his own one at a time with no hurry or fuss. And so far, he has taken the pot more times than he has lost.
Writer X, I would like to see Romney start to run away with it in the polls too, but that's unlikely to happen until we get closer to the election. The polls are heavily skewed toward the Democrats because of the sampling/norming method. Plus, the country is very much split 45/45. So you just won't see much beyond that. This is going to be a closer election than it deserves, but that's the state of our politics right now.
Julia is a website Obama set up where he presents the life of some fake woman and how it would change if Romney were elected. It's really creepy.
Doc, I agree. Romney has gotten really good at exploiting Obama's mistakes and his record and getting under his skin. At the same time, he's never lost control once and the media just can't find anything which gets to him.
Moreover, they are in a bind. If they attack him as a moderate to depress the base, then they risk making moderates happy. If they attack him as a conservative to anger the moderates, they risk raising base turn out.
It's kind of hilarious -- especially as I just don't believe he's really a moderate.
Lawhawk, What's been interesting is that as Obama has gone negative (and as the moderates have turned on him) his likability ratings have been falling to the levels of his popularity.
Personally, I think the only poll number that matters is the continued approval rating in the low 40s. That tells me he can't get re-elected.
Andrew, What troubles me is that while I see all of this and I agree completely, I can't escape the map you showed us the other day and I can't escape the feeling that this will all come down to a handful of voters.
Bev, You have no idea how refreshing the Romney campaign is in that regard. After 8 years of Bush standing there grinning stupidly as the Democrats took shot after shot at him, and then McCain panting like a dog waiting for approval as the Democrats just mocked him, it is truly refreshing to see a Republican who has finally grasped how modern campaigns work.
Romney has shot back at everything and he's given better than he got in every instance. His people have not let anything go untouched and in so doing, they have managed to dominate the news cycle and keep Obama from ever getting traction.
This is truly a new experience as a Republican.
tryanmax, I've felt that was part of the problem for a long time. The idea of reporters as eager seekers of information who are determined to find the truth, just isn't true. They are instead, lazy repeaters, who cozy up to sources of information and then trade the favor of passing on messages in exchange for getting the scoop.
Much of what the MSM does is simply repeat Democratic talking points. They don't do independent work at all because they are lazy. Plus, since they are fellow travelers, they have no real reason to do anything more than just repeat what the Democrats tell them.
What brought on this comment?
Doc, That's the big question. How will all of this translate. It's very possible that our electoral situation has gotten to the point that it is simply impossible for anything else.
If that's the case, then the Republicans really need to think of making politics more punitive. They need to realize that they simply will never win states like California and they need to start taking actions which make those states suffer -- like cutting federal funding and moving out military bases. Maybe it's time to bribe states like Ohio at the expense of places like California and New York?
One thing is for sure, they need to cut the state income tax deduction to make the citizens of these high-tax liberal states feel the full burden of their political choices. Right now we are all subsidizing their liberalism.
I'm in the same boat. I see where all of this demostrates the kind of trouble Obama is in, but I can't understand why he's not doing worse. I mean, I understand it, but I don't "get it." How can people still support him? And how can nearly half the country still support him?
Also, I saw an article at the Daily Beast (I'll look for the link) about Obama's support among college students having completely collapsed. They don't support him, they won't help him, and they aren't even registering to vote. That's going to hurt him a lot because he needs those kids as foot soldiers in his campaign.
Ed, The thing to realize is that a huge chunk of the population simply doesn't care because they get benefits from the government. No one on welfare or living on college loans or who works for the government is going to rock the boat and risk losing that. They will always support the Democrats now because they "vote for a living."
The Republicans need to break that cycle. They need to end entitlements, cut people off and reduce the value of those entitlements to make it impossible for these people to continue to live off the government in the lifestyle they've become accustomed to.
I'm not surprised Obama is losing college kids. He's given them nothing and he certainly hasn't been what they expected when they worked for him. They're ultimately a small part of the electorate, but they are the people who go door to door.
Here's the Daily Beast article.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/06/young-voters-are-abandoning-obama-but-not-running-to-romney.html
Ed, Interesting article. They said he's getting 41% support in the 18-24 bracket in a head-to-head match up with Romney. Wow!
Here's the link: LINK.
Well, there is some good news that ties in with all of this - Romney is leading by double digits with Independents. That's a good sign if he can hold on to it and even increase it.
Ed - losing the young vote is a very good sign even if they are not moving to Romney. That means they are less likely to vote at all or to get involved.
Dick Morris has spoken about poll numbers as of late. His overview is with the polls neck-n-neck really means Romney 55% Barry 45% his logic being that the independents break 90% for the opposition in a toss up, for what it’s worth. If Romney keeps his conservatism showing, he wins in a landslide, as Morris says. Romney 40 states to Barry’s 10.
Bev, That's the sign of death for Obama. Independents will decide the election. Each side gets about 45% from their own supporters and the rest is independents. Obama won them 2-1 in 2008. If he's getting blown out now, and a double digit loss is a blow out, then he's doomed.
Bev, I think so too. That's the heart of his support. They may not be huge in terms of numbers, but they are the "true believers." And if he's lost them, then that tells us he's got serious problems all along the line.
I'm basically ignoring any polls until we get within a couple months of the election. At the rate they toggle back and forth right now, it's pointless to try and keep up with them.
I have been heartened by the way conservatives across the board have gone after Obama, especially for this "Life of Julia" crap. The WH has actually been forced to play defense on their own talking point, which it must really hate.
Stan, What Morris says is very possible. There are several reasons not to believe the polls. For one thing, they are using a biased based by comparing the electorate today to 2008, which was an outlier year.
The biggest thing to keep in mind about polls is that the number where the incumbent seems to settle after each surprise bump or surprise drop tends to be what they get around election time. Obama's "settle number" is around 45%.
Add in his flagging support all around, the lack of enthusiasm in his base, the high enthusiasm on our side, and it's very, very likely that we are looking at a 45-55% race. If that's the case, then Obama will lose a lot of safe states.
I think the state to watch is actually Colorado. Colorado has become just barely center-left and should go for Obama... but not firmly. Colorado also relies on Hispanics and college kids as a solid chunk of the Democratic machine. If Colorado starts to drift away, then we're looking at a landslide.
Bev and Ed, The loss of college kids is truly instructive. It gives us an idea of the problems he will have in motivating his base. These are the young idealists who saw him as something special, now they don't.
That means they will turnout to vote in smaller numbers, they won't volunteer, they won't go door to door or bring their friends, etc. That loss of enthusiasm is contagious and will also affect other people. That's why he's playing to empty stadiums right now.
This is evidence that he has been unable to excite his base and it suggests he's in serious trouble.
T-Rav, That's what's excited me -- he is playing defensive. I haven't seen this from the Republicans in the past. They generally tried to go along to get along, rarely said anything critical, and typically assumed it was up to the nominee to do all the work.
This time, every time you look, three or four different Republicans are blasting him. And the effect is what you say -- it's keeping him on the defensive. Essentially, it's smothered his campaign.
I generally ignore polls too this far out, except for trends. And the trend is that Obama simply can't get more support than his base gives him.
By way of clarification, the Daily Beast article mentioned above doesn't say Romney will win college students, it just says that all Obama gets support-wise is 41%. He had gotten 70% in the last election. He still gets more than Romney, but that lost 30% shows a huge drop in support and enthusiasm.
I see the same thing you do, that Obama is in trouble on every front. There is no energy and the MSM can't come up with a plan of attack against Romney -- it was easier for them in the primary, which is probably why they were worried he would win.
Ellen, That's true. It was very easy for the MSM to attack Romney in the primaries because conservatives already considered him a moderate. So all they had to do was to point out something moderate he did or try to phrase something he said as moderate and conservatives would do the rest. Then add in Ricky Santorum giving them the freebie of blasting Mormonism as a cult and things were pretty easy for them.
But Obama can't do that. He can't attack Mormonism. Nor can he really delve into social issues without being exposed as much more extreme than Romney. Nor can they do the "he's a moderate" thing because that helps him in the general election. Nor can they whine that he's really a conservative because they just spent months telling us he's not.
They've got a problem.
Thanks for cheering me up on an otherwise dreary day.
Romney seems to have learned well from previous campaigns. I see this tactic continuing until the fall and then he will go on the attack.
The funniest Romney critism was that his father was a polygamist, which isn't true. Maybe his great-grandfather was, but Barry's father and grandfather definitely were.
I agree with the Colorado comment. This place is filling up with all sorts of flakes and nuts who couldn't get a job in California or felt that Texas was just too conservative. If Colorado starts to drift away from Obama, he's done.
You're welcome Koshcat! :)
Romney absolutely has learned how to run a campaign. This is not the same Romney of 2008 who stumbled over his words, always seemed one step behind, and seemed afraid to speak his mind. This is a confident Romney whose campaign is probably the best well-oiled machine I've seen since Clinton.
I think it's hilarious that they've tried to go after Romney's father and Ann Romney's wardrobe. How desperate must they be? But Romney is smart enough to fight back on these issues too, which I think has shocked the Obama people. In the past, the Republican would try to ignore these things and they would take hold. Not this time.
Koshcat, Yeah, Colorado has really gone downhill over the past 20 years. Right now I think it's just on that edge where it can still go Republican, but will most likely go Democratic. That makes the state a good bellwether. And if Colorado tips to the right, Obama is finished.
Some people say Nevada is the same way, but it's not. Nevada is still strongly Republican. Harry Reid only won because Angle was not a good candidate and because Reid and the unions pulled out all the stops. Nevada is going for Romney in a big way.
speaking of Julia, did you see IowaHawk's version? I loved the "RomneyEffect" additions...
Ed, I've got Nevada in the Romney column. Not only is Nevada a state which does usually go Republican statewide, but with the Mormon effect, it should be an easy win for Obama.
Colorado is different though. Colorado has gotten strange because of the number of Californians.
rlaWTX, I have not seen IowaHawk's version. What does he add?
Ha! I actually just posted IowaHawk's version on Facebook. It's awesome.
Oh. LINK
Thanks for the link. I just read it. That is hilarious! I love how it goes all Big Brother too.
Andrew, Oi! The afternoon turned busy, busy, busy. My earlier comment was in response to the fact that all Romney has to do to sweep Obama in the new cycle is to show up. I did some thinking and quickly realized that's something Republican candidates have never done before. The media may be leftist, but I'm starting to think it is only because it is easy. Romney may have chinked the media armor. Feed into their laziness; package the story and hand it to them.
RE: the Dunn article. He's prolific with metaphors, but they are all great ones: swashbuckler, samurai, poker player. Those aren't descriptions you can attach to just any political candidate.
tryanmax, It happens.
That's an interesting point that Romney may have solved the riddle of how to manipulate the media. He certainly has made it easy for them. They don't even need to call his campaign for quotes because his people are right there ready to hand out quotes, ready to offer spin, and ready to "work" on the story with them.
Of course, you have be good at it too because you do have to overcome their natural instinct to spin to the left. But at least you can try to change the relevant story. And most people are susceptible to influence in a one on one situation.
I think the real key is to work with them, but never believe in their good faith. That was McCain's mistake -- he genuinely saw them as friends and expected they would treat him the same.
thanks for covering for me, T-Rav!
Andrew
After reading your article it looks like the only thing Obama has to fall back on is his record in office.
We all know how that works out for a democrat..... {smile}
Indi, Running on his record would be a classic mistake! Of course, he's got nothing else to run on really. :)
I've noticed the same thing with my liberal friends, they just don't want to defend him anyone. Instead, they just change the topic whenever the One comes up.
Terry, I've seen the same things on line. Three years ago, you would see people talking about him everywhere. Now they never mention him.
Well, Andrew, newbie here, but first off, that's an amazing article. It sounds like Obama and his campaign team should start drinking decaf or something to seriously start cooling down.
I think a great deal of what's going on in the attacks on Romney now are the fact that Romney doesn't have much of the sex/drugs/rock 'n roll scandals, at least not as big or as obvious as some politicians have, if he really does, well, he's one of the best there has got to be at covering up whatever scandals of the three categories I just mentioned because if there's anything the media can do, it can pull out trash on people, or at least drive suspicion. If the media ever announced that they somehow had dirt on him, I would be thinking, "well, just spit it out already!" Without something flashing big on a flag saying caution, well, that's where the media goes where it does now, because when the big stuff isn't there, all it can do is try to go for the small stuff afterwards.
The funny part about this whole deal is as you pointed out, Andrew, just about all the major dirt to throw at Romney has already been taken in the primaries.
To Tyranamax and Andrew, if someone had to advertise his business, which Romney would presumably do as a venture capitalist, well that's sort of a trademark, chances are he worked out some "media maneuvering" like it or not, from working at Bain Capital.
Either way, nice blog
Thanks obiwan! And welcome.
I suspect that Romney just doesn't have any sex/drug/rock 'n roll type skeletons in his closet. He strikes me a lot like most of the Mormons I've met who are generally very straight shooters. Obviously not all of them are, but a good many truly are the type of people who just don't do the kinds of things which get politicians in trouble. I suspect Romney falls into this category. And that makes him very hard to attack in the traditional sense.
Plus, add in that he comes across as dull, which means he can't be painted as extremist... he comes across as competent and smart, which means he can't be painted as stupid... and he comes across as not-out-of-touch with the public, which makes the whole "evil rich white guy" meme fail as well.
He's a hard target for the MSM and Obama to hit.
And I would say that his time at Bain absolutely taught him media relations.
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