Mitt Romney: Too Wimpy for the White House?

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It should be the easiest thing in the world for a presidential nominee: a trip to England. The mother country, the shared tongue, our firmest ally. And it should have been easiest of all last week, happening as it did on the eve of the Olympics. Just praise everything you see.

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And yet, Mitt Romney managed to alienate just about every living Briton. He didn’t merely criticize the organizers or bureaucrats—he questioned the people of Britain themselves: “Do [the people] come together and celebrate the Olympic moment?”

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The episode highlights what’s really wrong with Romney. He’s kind of lame, and he’s really ... annoying. He keeps saying these ... things, these incredibly off-key things. Then he apologizes immediately—with all the sincerity of a hostage. Or maybe he doesn’t: sometimes he whines about the subsequent attacks on him. But the one thing he never does? Man up, double down, take his lumps.

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In some respects, he’s more weenie than wimp—socially inept; at times awkwardy ingratiating, at other times mocking those “below” him, but almost always getting the situation a little wrong, and never in a sympathetic way. The evidence resonates across too many years to deny. What kind of teenager beats up on the misfit, sissy kid, pinning him down and violently cutting his hair with a pair of school scissors—the incident from Romney’s youth that The Washington Post famously reported (and Romney famously didn’t really deny) back in May? The behavior extends, through more sedate means, into adulthood. The Salt Lake Olympics remains his greatest triumph, for which he wins deserved praise. But to many of those in the know, Romney placed a heavy asterisk next to his name by attacking the men he replaced on the Olympic Committee, smearing them in his book, even after a court threw out all the corruption charges against them.

And what kind of presidential candidate whines about a few attacks and demands an apology when the going starts to get rough? And tries to sound tough by accusing the president who killed the world’s most-wanted villain of appeasement? That’s what they call overcompensation, and it’s a dead giveaway; it’s the “tell.” This guy is nervous—terrified—about looking weak. And ironically, being terrified of looking weak makes him look weaker still.

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There’s another conservative yardstick on which Romney comes up short: he’s too smart, as in clever or book-smart, to be a real Republican candidate. All those stories about how intensely data-driven he was at Bain, or as governor? Weird. Liberals, men of caution and contemplation, are obsessed with data. Conservative men are supposed to be men of action—they have hunches and play them.

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Republicans and conservatives seem to know all this: many of them wanted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to jump in. Now, there’s a Republican man! Bellicose, sharp-tongued, a gleeful crusher of liberal pieties. Even his girth seems somehow manly. (Maybe it’s the way he throws it around.) He’s a smart choice to keynote the party’s convention—he’ll supply the tough-guy shtick the nominee can’t.

Every once in a while, a George Will or Bill Kristol will fret in public that Romney just doesn’t have the sauce. Donors and GOP honchos, while giving him their full backing because they despise Obama, are well aware that Romney was just the least bad of the party’s available candidates—not the sort of man Republicans prefer carrying their standard into battle.

Read more at http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/07/29/michael-tomasky-a-candidate-with-a-serious-wimp-problem.html

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Romney has no backbone, no principles, no stance. Yes, he's too wimpy.

[Pooky 3,830]

Romney has no backbone, no principles, no stance. Yes, he's too wimpy.

He's a good match for President Obama, then.

It's just a pity that the American people are thereby doomed to suffer from presidential inadequacy for at least the next four years

Edited July 30, 2012 by Pooky

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

He's a good match for President Obama, then.

It's just a pity that the American people are thereby doomed to suffer from presidential inadequacy for at least the next four years

The President stands by the legislation he pushed and signed however unpopular some of it may be in public opinion. That's backbone. That's principle. That's a stance he takes. Even against the wind. It's what Mitt is lacking. As the wind blows, so blows Mitt.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Mr. Big Dog

[rocks 494]

I love this picture.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

[JohnR! 5,495]

The President stands by the legislation he pushed and signed however unpopular some of it may be in public opinion. That's backbone. That's principle. That's a stance he takes. Even against the wind. It's what Mitt is lacking. As the wind blows, so blows Mitt.

South Beach-style politics!!!!!

Kudos for the pix!!!!