Mitt Romney will get a carefully scripted conventionmakeover as the Republican White House hopeful aims to close the yawninglikability gap between himself and President Barack Obama. During his bitterRepublican primary campaign, the immaculately coifed, multimillionairebusinessman demonstrated a tin ear with a string of wealth-related gaffes thatmade it all too easy for opponents to portray him as out of touch with ordinaryAmericans. "Romney seems to be suffering some real difficulty in comingacross as that friendly and likable person," Charles Franklin, politicalscience professor at the University of Madison-Wisconsin and co-founder of Pollster.com,said. "Back in 2000 it was Al Gore who was unusually stiff and had a veryhard time coming off as casual with voters under practically any circumstance.John Kerry in 2004 also had some problems seeming like an average guy."
If anyone can reboot Romney's image and prevent him fromending up on the scrap-heap of presidential also-rans it is his wife Ann, whoseaffable persona has served as a key asset in relaxing her more socially awkwardhusband. The couple's visibly squeaky-clean and loving family life -- they havebeen married for 43 years and have five sons and 16 grandchildren -- is a clearvote-winner and was trumpeted throughout the convention.
But while most polls show Romney trumping Obama on thecrucial question of who voters trust more to handle the flagging US economy, hetrails the president badly in terms of likability. A Gallup survey showed that54 percent of those polled found Obama more likable, compared to just 31percent answering the question in favor of Romney. Where some people see askilled manager with the business acumen to turn around the American economy,others see a cutthroat venture capitalist who profited while workers lost theirjobs. If the 65-year-old former Massachusetts governor wants to turn thisaround he must focus on developing empathy, analysts say. "Romney justdoesn't connect with people. His campaign needs to warm him up, if possible,using the infomercial we call a convention," said political analyst LarrySabato.
Franklin pointed to former Democratic president Bill Clintonas the prime example of a candidate who skillfully used the party nominatingconvention to remold an image that had taken a severe battering in the 1992primaries. David Carr of the New York Times put it more bluntly, asking:"Can Mitt Romney shake off his plastic, sitcom-dad persona and imitate ahuman being?"
