Romney's Other Campaign Strategy: Remembering When He Wasn't a Total Dickhole:
In the waning days of his exhausting campaign - the Rude Pundit couldn't hate his internet connections or his TV more if they were possessed by barb-dicked face-raping demons - one of the strategies the Romney campaign has tossed into onto the bonfire to see if it catches is "Mitt is human, just like you and me." It's pathetic, in a "Wow, that cat should just kill that bleeding mouse already 'cause I'm not gonna rescue it" sort of way.

Here's his blow-up doll wife, Ann, in a speech tying her illnesses - breast cancer, multiple sclerosis - to her husband's political ambitions: "Following my diagnosis, my husband, Mitt, stood by my side without reservation. He has been my steady champion. I believe this speaks volumes about his character—and about why he’s running for president." So, just to get this straight, when his wife, the woman he has been with since they both reached the age where the Kolobian genital-joining ritual was performed upon them, was gravely ill, Mitt Romney didn't abandon her, which pretty much seems like the bare minimum one can do. They certainly had 24-hour nursing care and others to do the nasty shit of dealing with a sick person. But, hey, mighty Mitt wasn't a total selfish cock about it, so, apparently, that makes him able to "ensure that women have the economic opportunities they deserve."

You see this trope, that the micro-Mitt tells you what you need to know about the macro-Mitt, repeated in the Parable of Romney and the Dying Teen. David Oparowski was 14 and diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and, according to the boy's parents, "Over a period of seven months, he was in and out of Children’s Hospital in Boston for treatment. Throughout that agonizing period, Mitt took time from his busy schedule to visit David. They developed a loving friendship." Romney even wrote a will for the boy. Truly, it was a horrible time for the family. Truly, Romney was kind.

However, at the time, 1979-80, Romney was a high-ranking member of the Mormon Church in Boston (attaining "President" status - no, really, he was "President Romney" as far as Mormons were concerned). The Oparowskis are a Mormon family who attended Romney's church. While Romney did comfort and aid the family, this wasn't something outside the realm of what his position in the church obligated him to do. He did it well, but, again, he'd have been a worthless church leader if he hadn't gone to David's bedside.

But none of that is the point. What is the point is that Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS has an ad out with the Oparowskis talking about how much Mitt cares. What is the point is that Ann Romney is also bringing up the story in campaign events.

So, in as much as we can read tea leaves about what the Romney campaign is doing, other than completely fucking lying about everything to do with the President, other than promising plans that Romney and Ryan simply don't have, they decided that Americans still don't seem to believe that Mitt Romney gives a flying fuck about the lives of ordinary people.

This late in the game, if you haven't convinced voters that you have the minimum of what we might call "compassion," your sins of dickishness are overwhelming.