Visual source:
Newseum
Alexandra Petri:
Mitt Romney’s normalcy in artificial environments like GOP debates is only exceeded by his artificiality in normal environments — like, say, Michigan. Some attribute this to the Uncanny Valley — that space that dolls and CGI creations occupy wherein they are just real enough to be unnerving.
William Galston on community:
It is societies such as ours, badly divided and obsessed with the present, that most need communal ties. But they are the least likely to produce them. Obama’s speeches have gestured at this problem but haven’t solved it. Indeed, in these circumstances, only a steady appeal to common sense and common decency has any hope of sustainably convincing American citizens to act in what Tocqueville called their self-interest, rightly understood. But it’s still an open question whether our leaders have the fortitude to make, and our citizens the disposition to hear, such an appeal.
Lisa Miller on "us vs them" Christianity:
Last week, the Christianity police, in the persons of Rick Santorum and Franklin Graham, came forward to discredit the president’s religious beliefs. First, Santorum called President Obama’s theology “phony”; then, on “Morning Joe,” Graham refused to accept Obama into his Christian band of brothers: “He has said he’s a Christian, so I just have to assume that he is.”
With rhetoric like this, these Christian conservatives are playing an ancient game. They are using religion to separate the world into “us” and “them.” They are saying, “The president is not like us.”
WaPo:
But the forceful budget action taken last year by Republican governors in Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida, including severe spending cuts and moves to curtail the collective bargaining rights of public employees, have left them deeply unpopular as the economy has improved.
This may make it more difficult for the GOP to win these states than it appeared just a few months ago, as polls find growing numbers of Americans who believe the economy has begun to recover.
Aw. Poor babies. I feel for them. I really do. Just like Romney feels for you.
Roberton Williams:
Economists generally favor the principles behind Romney’s plan: Lowering rates and broadening the base is good policy. But a plan that cuts rates and only promises unidentified future base-broadening? Not so much.
WaPo:
Romney uses a grandiose campaign to deliver relatively modest ideas.
He rolls into town like a state fair. Then he comes out to talk about tax policy and “America the Beautiful.” That has attracted a crowd of people with sensible minivans and serious economic worries. But it doesn’t win over Republicans who want the president to be a moral spokesman instead of just a national CEO.
This instinct toward grand stagecraft backfired on Romney on Friday, when he gave an economic speech at Detroit’s cavernous Ford Field. That venue outstripped even Romney’s impressive campaign machine: It wasn’t enough to camouflage an empty stadium.
Santorum, by contrast, uses a modest campaign to espouse deeply grandiose ideas.
His premise is that only he — a man who lacks the logistical wherewithal to rustle up snacks — can manage to rebuild the nuclear family and save freedom itself. That has made him a surprise front-runner. But it has done little to reassure the practical-minded part of the GOP base.
Added: the weekend must read from
John Heilemann:
The Lost Party
The strangest primary season in memory reveals a GOP that’s tearing itself apart.