I think Josh Marshall is right, Mitt Romney will eventually be the GOP nominee. He has the money, he has the organization. He will be on the ballot in every state (Newt will not.) But, there is going to be some pain along the way. Nights like last night left me with the following conclusion - Romney has got to get the point where he can start skipping these debates. And he needs to do so soon. Last night, he had a couple of lines which could be fodder for fall attack ads. The first, and my personal favorite, was his line that he was from “the real streets of America.” Which is just ludicrous. Romney says that he didn’t keep any of his inheritance from his father but he doesn’t say how much support he received from his parents while they lived. (And he was fortunate in many respects beyond financial ones that they were lucky to have lived quite a long time.) In contrast to an opponent who actually grew up in a family of moderate means, he sounds silly. Romney also melted down when discussing his tax returns. (Marshall links to that in his post.)
Romney has to cut down on the unforced errors. And the only way he accomplishes that is by getting out of these debates. To those who would argue that the long primary helped improve President Obama’s skills? Not quite comparable. Obama’s most memorable gaffe was probably the “you’re likable enough” line to Hillary Clinton. That hurt him in the primary but wasn’t an issue in the general. His repeated insistence to directly negotiate with Iran “without preconditions” wasn’t used to much effect by John McCain because: (a) Obama’s base agreed with him, and (b) swing voters weren’t swayed by foreign policy concerns. In a different election, Obama might have wanted to avoid that discussion. (I hesitate to call it a gaffe because I think Obama genuinely agreed with that position and felt he could turn it into a strength.) Governor Romney clearly does not like to be challenged - at one point last night he alluded to not “not standing for that on this stage” when he was attacked by Rick Santorum. He needs to win some races and escape debates while practicing for the fall. He also needs to cease press avails and stop taking unscreened audience questions. You know, like what usually happens in a general election. And soon. A boring race is a Romney race. An unstructured race, which is what this one is right now, just pokes holes in Romney’s viability. And may just end up sending him back to the streets come November.
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