Little Lost Robot

Over at the Plank, Jason Zengerle has a nice little post up about the success Romney has had in ingratiating himself with John McCain. I have to disagree with his conclusion, however:

Of course, this whole approach only seems to reenforce the most potent line of attack against Romney--namely, that he's a robotic fraud. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to Romney at this point if he demonstrated that he could nurse a grudge?

Really? I'd say the opposite -- since Romney's obviously a robotic fraud, his only chance is to convince Republicans that he's a sincere robotic fraud. The last thing they want to hear is that he has some shred of authenticity or true beliefs, because the odds seem fairly good that his true beliefs, if he had any, would likely be anathema to the Beck/Palin know-nothing portion of the party. Sure, Romney would betray them if it's in his self-interest to do so, but there's not much he can do to convince them otherwise; the much more serious charge against him would be that he intends to betray them because he wants to.

Fortunately for Romney, he's probably safe from the accusation that he has any secret agenda any larger than his own ambitions. Unfortunately for him, odds are good that Republican voters will prefer the real thing to his simulation of it, but I'd say he's doing what he can, given the situation.

I feel like this item should have something on John Edwards for balance, but I'll let it pass. Sort of.