Romney's Tea Party

The tea is weak and poured with an unsteady hand.  Romney has forgotten the sugar, and, embarrassingly, is mixing milk with lemon.  The Romney campaign is curdling.  Tea partiers,who have finally earned a place at the Romney table, doubt the sincerity of the host.  His most authentic tea party moment was offending the British, and that is the wrong tea party. There will be no shortage of mad hatters if, as is increasingly likely, Romney loses.  We can expect a Republican food fight.

On the other side, Democrats are enjoying double lattes.  Not only is Romney running cold, but super pacs keep pouring money on the same tea bag.  With a candidate as well know as the president, the law of diminishing returns precludes a few extra ads from impacting the voters' verdict.  Money flowing to Romney siphons off funds, which could preserve, or enhance, the Republican congressional majority.

Is it too soon to chill the champagne?

The Tea Party's Turn at Bat

When the highest paid  staff in history has its candidate singing "America the Beautiful," it is hard to argue they are running an issues campaign.  Had the Republican electorate but known, they would have nominated a better baritone.  Enter Ryan, stage right.  His budget is the tea party manifesto, game on.

Pundits are already proclaiming Ryan heir apparent.  Of course if Romney wins, Ryan's future will depend on the success of the Romney presidency.  A close loss should stand Ryan in good stead, but a blow out could change the GOP.

The dream of swinging for the fences only ends when you have a turn at bat.  For the right, Dole and McCain struck out because neither was a true conservative.  Romney fit that game plan until he picked Ryan.  If the tea party agenda pops out,  the GOP might move back towards the center, and Ryan might be benched.  I wonder if Romney knows the words to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

Believe in America

Mitt Romney's campaign slogan is Thomas Dewey insipid, and yet, Tea Party insidious.  As awful as it is, it may be the perfect prism for the campaign.

Romney is a bland candidate running as the non-Obama.  His messaging is intentionally vague and empty.  Even when he appears to drift into substance, such as his "First Day in Office" ads, it is an illusion.  He is either saying that he will repeal and remand acts of the president or  pointing out where the president failed.  In a bad economy, trying to make the election a referendum on the incumbent  is a good, but deathly boring, strategy.

But the slogan is also seeking to align with Birther Babylon, without having to actually enter the city.  The innuendo is that the sitting president is not one of us.  He is the other.  We believe in America, he does not.  Hopefully, this part of the message will fall as flat as Romney's rendition of "America the Beautiful".