I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe Mitt Romney should take seriously this shot across the bow by Fox News host Chris Wallace:
[Mitt Romney] has not appeared on this program or any Sunday talk show since March of 2010. We invited Gov. Romney again this week, but his campaign says he’s still not ready to sit down for an interview.
After all, for just how long has Mitt Romney been running for President by now? 2009? If he’s not ready now to be play you’re-on-the-griddle with Chris Wallace then when the heck will Romney be ready? When Romney’s trying for the nomination again in 2016?
I imagine that the temptation is strong for Romney – or his supporters – to shrug this one off, but I’d recommend against that, for a couple of reasons. First off, it’s a bad idea for a candidate to start acting as if he or she is above the petty considerations and/or obligations of campaigning; even if the media lets you get away with it in the primary they’re unlikely to let you get away with it in the general*. Second, specifically: Mitt Romney already has no reputation for bravery. Being perceived as hiding from the Sunday shows won’t help him erase that problem. Third, finally, and to draw off from the first reason: who the heck told Mitt Romney that he was entitled to act like the nomination was merely a formality, anyway? He’s a former governor and a mortal being, not some sort of mythological figure.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
*Unless you’re a Democrat – and the Awful Example of President Barack Obama should show you the perils of that particular poisoned fruit. If the media had smacked him around more, he might not have turned out to be such a… sub-optimal… President.
Mitt is betting that as long as he doesn’t pull a Charlie Sheen-level screwup, he’ll get the nomination because the conservative vote will be split between multiple candidates. With that as a given, there’s no need for him to expose himself where he might make a major gaffe (or worse, get caught telling the truth) in front of a camera.
To add to what you said Moe – Mitt Romney has “lost” elections and primaries before.
I don’t understand how he thinks he will win the nomination without having to make his actual positions public. He reminds me of Obama-lite, he’ll tell you what you want to hear in order to be elected but he doesn’t really believe it himself because he just doesn’t care about the issues except how it will affect the votes he receives. And does he really understand that this is not a politics as usual year? If it was, he’d have the nomination, but it’s not and no one wants to settle for him.
This whole thing is waaay unfair to Mittens. I have it on good authority that he has no time for interviews and is busy a sequel to “Profiles in Courage.”