Much like the necessity of defending Sarah Palin destroyed every minimum standard of truth and decency that remained in the Republican Party, Mitt Romney’s utterly vacuous campaign is turning the nation’s Republican governors into blathering idiots. I don’t know what I’d say in their place, but that’s sort of the point, What can you say? If you offer some advice like maybe Romney could release his tax returns and put this controversy to bed, you’re forced to walk it back the next day. If you say that Romney should spell out his economic plans, you ignore that his economic plans poll so badly that the Democrats have decided that no one will believe them if they talk about them. If you suggest that Romney humanize himself by talking more about his personal life, you ignore that Romney is basically a straight-laced Clark Griswold who does weird things like strap a dog crate to the roof of his station wagon before he sets off on a lengthy vacation. If you tell him to defend his work at Bain Capital, you aren’t taking account of the fact that he’s had twenty years to try to do that as a candidate and has never succeeded. And you know in your heart that releasing his tax returns won’t make the issue go away, but will destroy his candidacy in its crib.
One after another, the Republican governors assembled for their annual meeting in Virginia, told reporters that Romney needs to do this or that differently. But all of their advice was bad. Romney doesn’t talk about his personal life because he isn’t likable. He doesn’t talk about Bain Capital because no one likes a vulture capitalist and it only invites his opposition to pile on. He doesn’t talk about his economic plans because they’re less popular than a case of herpes.
Romney’s current strategy is the only strategy that makes any sense. Don’t discuss anything except the president and the economy. Go 100% negative. Do everything you can to make the election about the incumbent and not about you. Never talk about yourself. Never talk about your plans, except in the most generalized platitudes. And hope a perfect storm hits at just the right time in November and you win because you’re the only plausible alternative on the ballot.
Even if it’s not working well enough to win, doing anything else will immediately backfire. So, stick to the strategy.
This is what happens when a party becomes insane and then nominates someone with an indefensible history, personality, and platform.
