I just read a fascinating column by Ross K. Baker in USA Today, Is Romney the Next Dewey? There are some great points, and quotes in the column, so please consider reading it.
Baker says,
Back in 1948 lies a cautionary tale for this year's challenger, Mitt Romney. He bears a similar political style to Thomas Dewey, who sought to deny President Truman a second term — and lost.
He writes about President Truman's problems in the polls, Dewey's ability to raise more money than Truman, and other parallells, and points out:
Some Romney-Dewey parallels are positively uncanny. Both were born in Michigan and left to become governors of Eastern states: Dewey in New York and Romney in Massachusetts. Neither was a natural campaigner, their spontaneity seeming rehearsed. Journalist Richard Rovere wrote that Dewey "was like a man who has been mounted on casters and given a tremendous shove from behind," an apt description of Romney's wooden style.
I have to include one more quote because I love it:
Truman's biographer, Alonzo Hamby, provided this description of Dewey: "Always neat and unruffled, with wavy dark hair, a nicely trimmed mustache, and a well-modulated baritone speaking voice, he might be an ideal chief executive. Yet, to many observers there was something artificial about Dewey — too flawless, too self-contained, too calculating."
Take away the mustache and you have a pretty good description of Romney.
It's an enjoyable read.