Could not have said this better myself:

Romney's ongoing problems - as most recently highlighted in the leaked fundraiser video - stem from the combustible combination of his inability to demonstrate concern for the burdens his plans impose on ordinary citizens, coupled with his failure to define a vision that could expand his market share beyond the extreme right.

James Fallows has had some good political articles this summer.

He really has.

Mitt Romney is behaving like it doesn't matter what he says.

People won't vote for him or not based on what he says, or so he thinks.

I think he just doesn't care and is telling the truth. I mean. He really doesn't care and the sad thing is it ALMOST doesn't even matter.

I am not sure that is the case. He does care. His perceptions are off because of how high up the "food chain" he is. Again, I would point to this week's Meet the Press and last week's David Brooks' article.

I read the book about him. I think he's a wonderful person and would make a great CEO, I also think he'd redefine himself in a way many Americans are uncomfortable with -- just to be elected president.

It's clear that:

1. He doesn't care how many times he contradicts himself.

2. He doesn't really know what most people go through.

And 3. He doesn't really care what other people think about him.

Regardless of all of that, he's still only barely losing.

Imagine how well he'd be doing if he had consistency, empathy, and ability to listen.

David, I completely agree with your point about him saying anything to win. I dislike him for that reason. I am not sure how good of a CEO he would make. I think he tries to be a good person but I would not be willing to say wonderful.

Adam, I am not sure about #3. He is taking advice from someone, yes? It is the wrong advice for sure. Where is Governor Romney? Where is the real Mitt Romney? Again, authenticity is a huge problem.

Perhaps the real Mitt Romney IS inauthentic.

His not listening to anyone consistently also explains why he cannot maintain a consistent position on anything.

It's very Zen of him to hold all positions at once.

Perhaps he is a Zen Mormon.

Romney is running on the belief that he will win because he is not Obama. That tactic rarely works (see Al Gore, who spent all his time showing that he wasn't Clinton). The republicans lost their chance to win by blocking out Ron Paul, who polled better against Obama than Romney does, and who actually stands for something. If there was ever an election where it's time to vote third party, this is it.

And yet, no third party exists this time, unfortunately.

Serves the Republicans right for not letting it be a fair fight to get their nomination.

Hopefully they learn from this mistake, even if Romney doesn't.

Gary Johnson has filed an anti-trust lawsuit to open up the debates to third-parties, since they changed the rules to try and prevent another Perot. https://www.examiner.com/article/gary-johnson-files-anti-lawsuit-to-get-presidential-debates

and Gary Johnson is going to lose, just like everyone else who's sued over debate composition. There needs to be a viability line, and the CPD has the right to set theirs where they please, even if I don't like it.

On the other hand... even if you don't support him, say you support Gary Johnson anyway, so he can possibly get to that 15% threshhold.

Right, though it's unclear how he can get 15% in polls if the polls only ask about 2 candidates. The CPD is a joint 50-50 partnership between the two main parties, so no shock there, but yes, if today was election day, I'd vote for Gary Johnson.

Michael Bloomberg....?

I feel like the democratic nominee is secured for the next two-four cycles; folks named Booker or Clinton. How about on the republican side?

look for Jindahl, Christie, Martinez, Rand Paul. Maybe Daniels, Snyder, Kasich, Haley.

Jeb Bush,

Jeb Bush : very unlikely.

Why unlikely? Four years from now the Republicans will realize that the only tickets since 1980 that have won the presidency had a Bush on the ticket.

He seems composed, intelligent, and has a solid record.

Does he have any political baggage?

he has enough personal baggage... as in most of his kids are degenerates. He could be talked into it, but he's been pretty clear that he's not interested.

That's true, he's making plenty of money and likely doesn't want to be scrutinized like Romney is.

I like this answer on Quora:

"One thing I like about him is that he knows how to play his cards and knows when the game does not favor him. Right now the establishment in the GOP has a serious problem with the grassroots. He will wait until the Tea Party runs its course before making his next public move. "

http://www.quora.com/Jeb-Bush/How-has-being-related-to-two-former-presidents-affected-Jeb-Bushs-political-career/answer/David-Hood-2

Romney would be fine if he were transparent like his father with his finances. Pres. Bush was wealthy, but IIRC he didn't hide it or take advantage of the tax systems with the shameless Glee that Mr. Romney has.

Agreed that Jeb is smart and patient.

Romney's problems are largely of his own making.

It's not like Romney misrepresenting himself.

The problem is that Romney is showing us exactly who he is, and that person reminds most of us of the boss who fired us.

No one wants to vote for the boss who fired them.

He still has a chance because Pres. Obama is black. Nobody wants to say it, but both anecdotally and empirically, it seems to be the real story.

Fascinating about voting for the boss that has fired them! Don't worry, he'd only fire 47% of America...

Obama being black is helping him. The MSM would not be giving him the pass on his utter incompetence otherwise.

The GOP isn't getting any new votes on racial lines: Agnew's Southern Strategy has been completely successful.

The Mainstream Media likes to highlight his accomplishments: avoiding global economic meltdown, saving GM, getting out of Iraq, appointing two great Supreme Court justices, passing healthcare reform, and giving a timeline or getting out of Afghanistan.

Arguably Obama's done more with his first term than any president since LBJ.

And yes, zero percent of black people are voting for Romney. Zero. That's downright embarrassing.

And ordering the killing of UBL.

The MSM has liked him since 2004; he's a great public speaker, and an inspiring writer -- this, of itself, is not new (see: Steve Jobs for example; completely different background story, but nonetheless interesting and a visionary speaker and communicator).

There was some article here on PW somewhere that talked about the skew of white middle-aged middle class Americans increasingly voting for Gov Romney, especially in southern states. Even in Pennsylvania and Midwestern states he holds a slight favor ability rating, Nate silver says probably a 5 point difference attributable directly to race.

This is a massively data driven campaign, more than any other in history.

This is what I'm hearing from inside sources:

The Romney campaign is betting on heavy targeting combined with GOTV (I'm told they're spending about 3x on gotv than in 08) to pull in the numbers.

They're aiming at maximizing strong demos and trying to capture undies in those strong demos than trying to appeal to the schizophrenic indie 'middle'.

They believe that trying to win news cycles is a waste of resources, and considering news coverage of Romney is about 80% negative, they're probably right.

They believe that the Dem-skew of the polls by the MSM is both incorrect, blatantly biased, and overtly pro-Obama, tho the Gallup/Rasmussen skew is probably 1-2 pts too generous.

Also, that the top strategists are completely off their heads, that Romney is doing more personal strategy that he should have to, and that if he manages to pull this out, it will be more in _spite_ of his senior staff, and sticking to the original campaign plan, than due to them.

You're right that the media is piling on Romney like crazy.

There's so much contempt for the man. I think he might be the most hated man to run for president in a very long time.

He is the most disliked. He will likely remain the most disliked.

It's reminiscent of Clinton v. Obama.

The man who was governor would be an exceptional president, I think. Where or who that man is now, I'm not sure it's possible to deduce.

Our country appears divided; however, the Olympics was an incredible reminder of the concept of university:

Unity in Diversity.

The contempt that the MSM is showing for Romney is, imo, a byproduct of the Citizens United decision. News outlets no longer have to pretend to be impartial, so they're not.

Ironically, Citizens United might have hurt Romney a lot more than it helped him.