Maybe the beard would help him connect with the common folk.
From the first time I heard Mitt Romney speak about the 2012 election, I knew something wasn't quite...right about him. He was obviously entirely too rich. He was obviously out of touch with the way the 'common people' live. From his 'corporations are people' to his awe at a touch screen at a sandwich place to Eric Fehrnstrom's 'etch-a-sketch' comment , I could tell something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Then, he made the announcement of Paul Ryan as his running mate and it finally hit me: Mitt Romney isn't really running for president.
(more below the fold)
Have you ever seen 'I'm Still Here'? (http://www.youtube.com/...) It was the movie that documented Joaquin Phoenix's apparent collapse into insanity. He grew a scraggly beard, let his hair go wild, went on Conan O'Brien rambling and/or intoxicated, and told the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. The only thing was that it was all fake. He did all of it as a new type of reality movie.
I'm completely convinced that Mitt Romney is doing the same thing. Let's look at a few pieces of evidence.
(actual quotes from Mitt Romney from http://politicalhumor.about.com/...)
"Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Paul Ryan."
"Corporations are people, my friend."
"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."
"I'm not concerned about the very poor."
"I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back." –Mitt Romney, on the American auto industry, despite having written a New York Times op-ed in 2008 titled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," in which he said if GM, Ford and Chrysler got a government bailout "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye"
"I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed." —Mitt Romney,
"[My wife] drives a couple of Cadillacs."
"I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that's the America millions of Americans believe in. That's the America I love."
"PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air."
"I have some friends who are NASCAR team owners." —Mitt Romney, after being asked whether he follows NASCAR racing
"There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip" –Mitt Romney, attempting to identify with the problems of average folk
"I'm not sure about these cookies. They don't look like you made them. No, no. They came from the local 7/11 bakery, or whatever."
"I like those fancy raincoats you bought. Really sprung for the big bucks."
"We have a president, who I think is is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps." —Mitt Romney, who has two Harvard degrees
"I love this state. The trees are the right height."
"I'm running for office for Pete's sake, we can't have illegals"
"I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much." —Mitt Romney, who earned $374,000 in speaking fees in one year
"It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." —speaking in 2007 about killing Osama bin Laden
"Who let the dogs out? Who, who." –Mitt Romney, during an awkward photo op with a group of African Americans kids at a Martin Luther King Day parade
"I'm Mitt Romney—and yes Wolf, that's also my first name." —Mitt Romney, getting his own name wrong (his first name is "Willard," and his middle name is "Mitt")
"I'm not familiar precisely with what I said, but I'll stand by what I said, whatever it was."
I'm not a genius. I say things without thinking about them first. But even I know that you don't say
any of that when a camera is in front of your face and
especially not if you're running for office (for Pete's sake).
Who knows what else might happen over the next couple of months? Whatever it is, we know that the cameras are running. I just hope we get to see the complete film after Romney loses in November.