I'm not sure I entirely agree with this, but there is no question Mitt Romney is tripping over his own politeness. But the "micro-pandering" they point to here isn't bullying. Don't think bully. Think Eddie Haskell "my that's a lovely dress Mrs. Cleaver." Actually, it's worse than even that. He doesn't tell his audiences what they want to hear; he tells them he'll give them what they want. And they're also right about Romeny being statuesque.

He can't assume that America the way it was is important to today's voters. That's where this piece has it right. He has to convince them that The America Lost needs to be found! Romney mouths what's at stake, but he doesn't speak it from the heart.

And while I reject the bully/nerd narrative, Romney needs to take off the gloves. And to steal a line from a McCain critic four years ago, it's the white gloves he needs to take off.