Mitt Romney and the great unwashed masses

By Richard K. Barry 

I have begged people to stop talking about Mitt Romney's sense of humor, but they just won't stop. Now his wife, Ann, wants to tell us that "there is a wild and crazy man inside there." Please stop. For god's sake, stop. Now I have to imagine Mitt doing a Dan Ackroyd - Steve Martin SNL routine circa 1978 around the Romney compound. Thanks for that.

As we know, the GOP wants voters to think Mitt is a regular guy with a regular good old fashioned sense of humour. They think this will help him connect with people and they with him.

But in the same story at The Hill, where Ann's comments are mentioned, Mitt talks about how he likes to sit down with individual families, without the cameras, to talk about what they are going through. He says at moments like this he feels connected with the issues and concerns of everyday Americans.

But, then, because he can't help himself, he says this: "I'm in this race because I'm very concerned about, if you will, the great bulk of America, the middle of America."

Come on. How close do you think he was, right there at that moment, to saying how much he cared about "the little people"?

"The great bulk of America?" "If you will?" Really?

I'm laughing, Mitt, but not with you.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)