First Thoughts: Can't buy me love {romney}

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http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9164872-first-thoughts-cant-buy-me-love

FAIRFAX, VA -- Most of the 12 Republican primary voters who gathered here to participate in a focus group that NBC/WSJ pollster Peter Hart (D) conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. They’re not hopeful about the future. And they don’t like President Obama’s leadership. But they didn’t exactly love the GOP candidates. That was especially true of Mitt Romney. When asked who Romney would be if he were a member of their family, they answered, "black sheep," "fun neighbor," "cousin," "second cousin," "dad that was never home." By comparison, the responses for Newt Gingrich were "grandfather," "father," "my favorite uncle," and "uncle who keeps bringing home different wives." When asked who they would like to serve as their character witness if they were in trouble, just one Republican mentioned Romney. And when Hart pressed them to further talk about Romney if he becomes president, one person described him as a "placeholder." Another called him a "safe bet."

*** Concerns and strengths about Romney: More than anything else, this focus group helped explain WHY Romney hasn’t broken through with GOP primary voters, at least not yet. Polls are great for finding out WHERE a candidate stands, but they do not always help tell the story of WHY a candidate is winning/losing etc. That's not to say the respondents didn't have kind words for him. Asked to list his strengths, they responded, "moral character," "strong leader," "rolls up his sleeves," "role model." (It was interesting that businessman wasn't the first words out of their mouths.) But here were their concerns about him: "not strong enough," "RINO " "wishy-washy," and "RomneyCare." And here were other words they associated with him: “vanilla,” and “manufactured.” In a roundtable with reporters after the focus group, Hart observed that there was “no warmth, no connection” with Romney. Yet Hart cautioned that -- a la Nixon in 1968 -- he could still end up as president. “No passion, but smart, competent enough to be president, good family values, steady.”

*** A Teflon Newt? Meanwhile, Gingrich did surprisingly well with this GOP focus group. "I was surprised how well Newt Gingrich wore throughout the night," Hart observed. For instance, Hart handed out a paper containing oppo on all the Republican candidates. Only two of the 12 had concerns about the $1.6 million Gingrich made from Freddie Mac; just one was concerned about his immigration views; four had concerns about his three marriages; and six had concerns about his flip-flops on Libya, climate change, and Paul Ryan's budget plan. By contrast, NINE had problems with Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health-care law, and seven had concerns about his flip-flops on abortion, global warming, and taxes. (Strikingly, none of them had concerns about Romney's Mormon faith or his Bain Capital layoffs.) When asked to list Gingrich's strengths, they responded, "proven track record," "knows how the system works," "negotiator," "doer," and "good with foreign policy."