When the dogs won’t eat the dog food - BY JOAN WALSH

[kpete]

FRIDAY, SEP 28, 2012 02:40 PM PDT
When the dogs won’t eat the dog food
Mitt Romney is losing not because of a bad campaign but because voters think he would make a bad president
BY JOAN WALSH

I know, “the dogs won’t eat the dog food” is kind of a cliché, but maybe because of Mitt Romney’s Seamus I couldn’t resist it. It refers to attempts to blame marketing for a product not selling, when the problem is the product itself. Romney is the product the voters aren’t buying – the dog food, if you will.

Journalists and political operatives are already engaged in a pre-mortem about Romney’s awful campaign, and what killed it: The never-ending tax controversy? Bain job-killing? His Olympics stumble? A mediocre convention? Bad judgment in slamming the president on Libya? Those remarks about the “47 percent”? Politico came out and told the truth today: “In the end, it’s Mitt.”

Mostly anonymous Republicans (such courage) dish the dirt on the candidate they say they love. The silliest thing in the Politico piece came from an anonymous “top Romney official” who called Romney a “lousy candidate” who’s “highly qualified to be president.” Actually, in our country, sir (it’s almost certainly a “sir”), voters decide who’s highly qualified to be president. And they’re not sold on Romney.

Let’s be clear, though: Romney can still win. Our country is divided. The swing voters coming over to President Obama’s column – including seniors and the white working class – could swing back to the GOP, if not to Romney personally, in the event of a major crisis or something else unforeseen. Everyone’s saying the debates are a make or break moment for Romney, and it’s true, I guess, that a great performance might change the narrative, at least. (In the media, anyway; I’m not sure anything but a spectacular Obama stumble would make the debates decide the election.) So Mitt’s supporters have a lot of advice, some of it crazy.

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MORE:
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/28/when_the_dogs_wont_eat_the_dog_food/

[Grateful for Hope]

1. The whole paradigm

he presents is flawed.

Being a former CEO is nothing like being president.

A CEO is not elected, the position is selected. A CEO answers only to the company's shareholders,

A president, on the other hand, is elected by the people, and as such, he or she is answerable to all of us.

I suspect that Romney sees the presidency as being an extension of his privileged positions in the past. He is in for a rude awakening.

[goclark]

2. good read...

I would be shocked if he can best Obama in a one on one.

Obama is usually great at one liners.
He has a way of talking everyday words to all segments of voters.
He is sharpe as a tack and full of energy...he is "comfortable in his
own skin.

Unless magic happens...the Tin Man will need a miracle.