Milbank:"A day of awkwardness with Mitt Romney" He is just so ODD - not going to wear well.

[Pirate Smile]

A day of awkwardness with Mitt Romney

By Dana Milbank, Tuesday, June 14, 4:41 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H.

Mitt Romney, the leading contender to become President Obama’s Republican opponent next year, had just finished working the room at Blake’s Creamery here when he paused for a photo with the restaurant’s owner, Ann Mirageas, and decided to tell her a joke.
“I saw the young man over there with eggs Benedict, with hollandaise sauce,” he said. “And I was going to suggest to you that you serve your eggs with hollandaise sauce in hubcaps. Because there’s no plates like chrome for the hollandaise.”
The proprietor laughed weakly. “Good luck to you,” Mirageas said.

The hubcap joke must have killed in Michigan in the 1950s, when Romney was a boy. What’s odd is that he’s still making such jokes. What’s odder is that a man who makes such jokes is in a position to become president of the United States.

In formal settings — news conferences, or Monday night’s debate — Romney is confident and competent. But in casual moments, such as Tuesday morning’s retail politics in New Hampshire, his weirdness comes through — equal parts “Leave It to Beaver” corniness and social awkwardness.

He greets a man perusing shelves of a hardware store: “Shopping here today?”
He notes the lack of “guy waitresses” at a diner and says of the long skirts worn by the middle-aged wait staff: “Oh, this is the Hooters equivalent.”
He talks about the weak economy with the proprietors of a feed shop, then abruptly pivots: “Okay, so what do you do about mosquito control? . . . This has been a mosquito-infested year with all the moisture. They flew away with my dog.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-day-of-awkwardness-with-mitt-romney/2011/06/14/AGApq6UH_story.html?hpid=z3

[Cali_Democrat]

1. Romney is one strange bird

Socially awkward indeed. He's lived a completely sheltered life and he's trying super hard to mingle with people he views as peasants.

[PatSeg]

2. Yes, that is what it looks like

I can't even imagine what kind of people he can communicate with. He's like a character in a movie who got transported to a different decade, trying hard not to be too obvious.

He is very, very odd indeed.

[paparush]

6. Indeed

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Romney is weird - like many sheltered Mormons...

Living in Utah, I've come across many awkward Mormons. Their jokes aren't funny, their eccentricities are beyond the norm.

It's because they are sheltered from the real world. Not all Mormons, mind you - but the ones who believe anything rated worse than PG-13 is off limits to even adults.

I remember these types from HS. Definitely weird and socially awkward.

[karynnj]

4. This Boston Herald story of his "sense of humor" is worse

The headline is that his humor fell flat in NH. This describes his juvenile behavior taking a photo with waitresses.

During the photo op in front of the jukebox with the poodle skirt-wearing gals, Romney suddenly jumped forward with a startled look on his face, and said, “Oh, my goodness!”

For the record, not one of startled servers did pinch an inch.

“I would never do that,” one of the tray jockeys told a reporter from Politico.

Later, Mitt reported that he “was just teasing” the girls at Mary Ann’s, although it happened for real at a fund-raiser during his last run for the White House. Which gives new meaning to the phrase “money grab,” don’t you think?

Real class -- not.

The funny thing is that I read the Milibank article here first and opted not to comment. The reason is that the examples are distinctly weird, but Milibank and others distorted actions and comments by people like Gore and Kerry to make them look stiff - though they obviously gave the writers less to work with.

(I saw this because there was a small Kerry line on page two - he and Michael J. Fox, Denis Leary were reported to have eaten pizza after the Bruins win in game 6. )

[tanyev]

5. But his family thinks he's hilarious!

[karynnj]

7. His family was the source of the dog on top of the car story

It bothers me almost as much that they thought that that story showed their dad in a positive light.

[krabigirl]

11. That story made me sad..

[Enrique]

8. what's odder is that someone like Milbank works for the Washington Post

"What’s odder is that a man who makes such jokes is in a position to become president of the United States."

classic Milbank political reporting. He should just take his old Al Gore stories and replace Gore with Romney.

[woolldog]

9. Another painfully awkward Romney moment captured on tape:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDwwAaVmnf4


:rofl:

[Politicalboi]

14. LOL!

See he speaks "their" language. He talks Bling Bling too. Man of the people.

[Ilsa]

10. Actually, I kind of like the joke about "chrome for the hollandaise."

I like word-play jokes, puns, even nerdy math (Pythagorean theory) jokes.

Mitt won't make it in stand-up comedy, and in general, I don't think jokes ease social tensions unless they are spontaneous and effortless. His attempt was too forced, indicating his discomfort.

[pacalo]

15. I liked the chrome for the hollandaise joke, too! First time I'd heard it.

But I do get the sense from reading about his other comments that he doesn't get out much to hobnob with regular folks.

[Yavin4]

12. Romney Is Not Strange. He's Just Rich.

He's been rich all of his life. Practically all of his life, he's never been around people of normal means, only other rich folk. When he steps away from his mansions, it's like he's in a different universe.

The only working people he knows are his maids, nannies, and butlers.

[Eagle Mall]

13. Who let the dogs out? Who, Who, Who?

[Avant Guardian]

16. Every time I see Romney

I see Ted Baxter

[Generic Brad]

17. I am waiting for him to visit a school math class

It has been a long time since I heard the "Gee, I'm a tree" joke.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

18. He makes Dennis Miller look like George Carlin.

[one_voice]

19. I don't get the...

hubcap joke. :shrug:

[Pirate Smile]

20. I didn't either until I read it out loud to my Mother. It's a pun,sounds like"there's no place like

home for the holidays" - "there's no plates like chrome for the Hollandaise".

[one_voice]

21. Ooooohhhhhhh

D'oh...now I get it...:blush: Thanks!

[Thrill]

22. Mittens can't relate to normal people? SHOCKER

He's use to them bringing him breakfast in bed and shining his shoes.