If I Were Romney

Well, for sure, I wouldn't run for President. Too much baggage. Too much naked ambition, demonstrated by his willingness to change his positions at will, one way or the other just plain lying (most recently shown with his absurdly transparent double-down lies on US automakers.

OK, but clearly he really, really, REALLY wants to be the first Mormon President.

And then Superstorm Sandy hit.

What did Romney do? "Romney has alternately committed to keeping the campaign on track, only to cancel events before directing people to donate goods at campaign offices rather than the Red Cross." [Washington Post]

This is a man worth about a quarter-billion dollars. A man who has raised close to $1 billion for his campaign, with hundreds of millions of dollars more raised and controlled by SuperPACs that support Romney.

So, ahem, if I were Romney and wanted to (a) appear Presidential and (b) not get totally beat down by a President who is engaged and responding and bonding with Chris Christie of all people, I would have on Monday:

• Announced a suspension of my campaign at least until Wednesday. No campaign events, no campaign ads (!), and strong, strong encouragement to all SuperPACS in my camp to do the same.
• Pledged my support to the President to help in any way possible. "Just let me know."
• Donated to the Red Cross at least $10M from my campaign, gathered commitments from the SuperPACs to donate at least another $10M, and then donate another $10M of my own personal weatlth to the Red Cross.
• Started an aggressive nationwide tour with one objective: to raise more money for the Red Cross.

"My fellow citizens who have been hurt by Sandy must come first, and I will do what I an to help the President restore all the states affected, in particular New Jersey and New York, to their former glory."

Now, that would have been presidential. That would have gotten peiple cheering Mitt. Who knows? It might even have gotten him elected.

Instead, he lied about Chrysler and GM's plans for jobs in the US and in China, showing that once again he has a terrible time telling the truth.

Romney's going to lose, and by electoral votes, lose big. And it's all his fault. He had on his side 40-45% of the electorate who will vote for him no matter how much he flip-flops, wiggles and lies. People who are demonstrably disconnected from reality. He had all those people, and just needed to consolidate enough independent votes. Not going to happen.