My New York Post column today takes a look at Mitt Romney’s roll out:
The best thing you can say about Mitt Romney’s roll- out week as an official candidate is that it wasn’t as bad as Newt Gingrich’s. He didn’t blow himself up on “Meet the Press” by denigrating Paul Ryan’s bold budget proposals, and he hadn’t racked up a half-million dollar tab at Tiffany to decorate his third wife.
But it was still awful.
First there was Sarah, showing up in New Hampshire. Then Mitt made an unforced error over “global warming,” as if he hasn’t read a thing on the subject since the Climategate e-mail scandals broke. And, of course, there’s good ol’ Romneycare, which he refuses to back away from.
It all brings to mind this classic Python moment. Of course, that’s what we all thought about John McCain, too:
My conclusion:
There’s no doubt that Romney’s an attractive candidate. Leave aside his Mormon religion (which should be no more of a factor than was Obama’s middle name of Hussein); he’s bright, handsome and personable, with no embarrassing familial baggage.
But Mitt’s larger problem is unlikely to go away: People find him unconvincing, lacking in the urgency that these desperate times demand. And his preemptive sellouts suggest he’d treat Obama with kid gloves.
In short, Romney knows everything about running for president except why. And that’s the only question that matters.