Jonah Goldberg isn’t the only one who thinks Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney should avoid pandering for votes by trying to boost his likeability. Alana Goodman covers similar ground in an entry for Commentary‘s “Contentions” blog:
[T]here’s no reason to think Romney’s likeability ratings at this point in the election are any predictor of his success next November, or even a sure sign of what his likeability ratings will be later in the election season.
As Nate Silver finds, low initial personal favorables haven’t doomed past presidents, and Romney’s numbers are on par with Bill Clinton’s at the same point of the race in 1992. …
… There’s no point in dwelling on something Romney can’t change. Trying to force Romney to fit some political consultant’s checklist of what makes a candidate likeable is hopeless, because he already is some political consultant’s checklist of what makes a candidate likeable. Telling him he doesn’t connect won’t do any good, because he already knows that and has probably had a lab of scientists working on it for the last three years.
Romney should forget likeability for the time being. If he wants to win public respect, he won’t do it by pandering.
