WASHINGTON – People are having trouble keeping two competing thoughts in their heads. That Pres. Obama isn’t inspiring to very many anymore, but Mitt Romney is still seen as horribly out of touch and painful to watch on TV.
The survey shows Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has yet to repair the damage done to his image during the Republican primary. Thirty-nine percent of Americans view him favorably, about the same as when he announced his presidential candidacy last June, while 48 percent see him unfavorably — a 17-percentage point jump during a nomination fight dominated by attacks ads. A majority of likely voters, 55 percent, view him as more out of touch with average Americans compared with 36 percent who say the president is more out of touch. – Obama Leads In Poll As Voters View Romney As Out Of Touch
Meanwhile, they both race around to fundraisers in the vainglorious goal of buying the U.S. presidency.
Obama’s a known quantity, while Mitt Romney remains unknown. That’s usual in presidential elections where one party is trying to oust an incumbent president, but Romney’s got one big problem.
The American voter won’t trust a presidential challenger who can’t make a declarative point about what he’d do in office. People expect promises and pledges, even knowing the politician won’t keep them, but to not say anything takes the political conversation to a new low. You probably thought that wasn’t possible.
People may not be thrilled about Pres. Obama today, but Americans still think he’s an okay guy. They’re not even sure about Mitt Romney, but the worst news for Team Mitt is people don’t seem to care enough to find out.
There is inherent struggle in any African American story, especially one that tells the tale of a man who began so humbly and ended up the most powerful person in the world. Mitt Romney’s struggles were/are… **crickets** Well, they certainly were not comparable to your average American’s struggle, which might explain why he’s seen as so completely out of touch.
Buzzfeed has done a traffic comparison between Obama versus Romney stories, talking to site editors, and how their stories impact the largest new media sites, as well as what gets picked up and ignored.
In the war of partisan trash talk that frequently consumes online political media, one truth has emerged from this year’s election coverage that transcends ideology: No one wants to read about Mitt Romney.
[…] In the absence of the potential for a First Woman President or a First Black President, is there any saving grace that could salvage the next four months for politics websites?
“This is perhaps one of the reasons we should all be rooting for Romney to pick someone like Marco Rubio for veep,” said Lewis.
I’d say once again Mitt Romney should choose Liz Cheney, but the truth is that Sarah Palin has ruined it for conservative women on the ticket for the foreseeable future.
NBC’s First Read has the smartest take on the Rubio dream pick, because he comes with serious baggage.
..despite being the party’s rising star and a favorite of the GOP base, the signs always have pointed AGAINST Rubio being Romney’s pick. Why? For starters, he’s only been a U.S. senator for a year and a half, and he didn’t endorse Romney until late in the GOP primary season. Then there’s the opposition research out there on him — something that the Romney folks who worked for Charlie Crist’s 2010 Senate campaign know pretty well: Rubio charged more than $100,000 to state GOP credit cards, had racked up nearly $1 million in personal debt, and had nearly had his home foreclosed on. No doubt that Rubio has plenty of assets (young, Latino, from Florida). But he also carries a lot of risk for the usually risk-averse Romney.
Sen. Rubio also won’t do anything for the women’s vote in a year where negative campaigning is king and which traditionally makes women, especially single women, tune out.
Politico is talking about Tim Pawlenty being on the short list, but there’s also Rob Portman; Mitch Daniels has accepted a position to be president of Purdue. If true, it would be the worst Republican ticket since Dole-Kemp, reminiscent of the Dukakis era on the Democratic side.
The year 1996 was also a low turnout year, which 2012 at this point is competing to replicate.
Taylor Marsh, a veteran political analyst and former Huffington Post contributor, is the author of The Hillary Effect, available at Barnes and Noble and on Amazon. Her new-media blog www.taylormarsh.com covers national politics, women and power.