Romney’s plastic personality

The normally tight lipped Republican Party, which is more adept than their counterparts in the Democratic Party at unifying behind one candidate has been uncharacteristically vocal about their frustrations with their candidate for President, Mitt Romney.

On June 30th  the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner said the following about Mitt Romney at a fundraiser in W VA.

“The American people probably aren’t going to fall in love with Mitt Romney. I’ll tell you this: 95 percent of the people that show up to vote in November are going to show up in that voting booth, and they are going to vote for or against Barack Obama.”  Source: Roll Call

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the man the Republican Party is pinning their hopes on in the November election, but Boehner is correct.  This problem is somewhat unique for a party that in recent years has gone out of their way to champion national candidates who are more folksy and likable than intelligent or thoughtful (at least publicly).  Take for example President Bush who would intentionally mispronounce words to sound more down to earth or Sarah Palin who (I believe unintentionally) speaks with the grammatical correctness of a fourth grader.  Romney appears to be a far more cerebral candidate.

The greatest threat to Obama isn’t Romney, it is the slow and unsteady economic recovery of the US economy.  This,  more than anything Romney can say or do may contribute to Obama losing to the Republican’s “unlovable candidate” to paraphrase Boehner.

However, Americans are more passionate than practical when it comes to politics and Romney’s plastic personality and reputation for taking care of the super rich is going to pose a significant challenge.  Ultimately, I think this election will be determined by which side can convince enough of their supporters to come out and vote, while Independents – frustrated by the grid-lock and fighting stay home.