Mitt Gives Away the Election Because His Eyes Give Him Away

As you’d expect, Politico‘s article yesterday about the steaming mess that is Mitt’s campaign has generated a ton of media reaction and finger-pointing.  Plus today Mitt’s campaign itself, led by senior adviser, Ed Gillespie, promised that the campaign will change its message and strategy, with more emphasis on specific policy, although not, God forbid, new policy.

Of course, every day spent talking about your campaign is one not spent talking about your opponent, so today is another lost day for Mitt, another day of ‘splaining, of which he’s already had far too many.

Mitt has run an abysmal campaign, and I don’t see that changing.   The people in charge aren’t going to change, and neither are the clashing personalities and flawed vision of those people.  They’ve failed Mitt so far and will fail him till November 6.

But to me, the bottom line isn’t that he won’t offer policy specifics or tax returns, that’s he’s a flip-flopper, that’s he’s an out-of-touch rich guy, that he’s not someone you want to have a beer with.

The bottom line is that he looks so damn frightened all the time, and that makes us uncomfortable, rightly so.  What some polls measure as likeability, I think is discomfort, our gut sense that he can’t handle the stress of the job.  If he can’t face Bret Baier or David Gregory without looking absolutely terrified, how will he deal with Putin or Ahmadinejad?

Mitt will lose because of his eyes and that anxious, fearful look we see on TV, the most consistent thing about him in both 2008 and 2012.  Mitt has a strong physical resemblance to his dad, but go back and look at clips of George Romney.  Look in his eyes.  No fear.

At the upcoming debates, Obama will look commander in chiefish, and Mitt will look like the guy in the hostage video.  You don’t have to be Marshall McLuhan to figure out how it’s going to go.