TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney sat at the head of the table at a coffee shop here on Thursday, listening to a group of unemployed Floridians explain the challenges of looking for work. When they finished, he weighed in with a predicament of his own.While I guess it's possible that Romney's new friends were aghast, they probably recognized the joke for what it was -- a joke -- and didn't think much of it. But the reporters hovering around sure did. You see, when reporters are deciding what kinds of revealing moments to share with their readers, one of the key questions they ask is, "Does this little vignette reinforce the character judgments my colleagues and I have already made about this candidate?"The result is that two candidates about whom different judgments have been made can do or say exactly the same thing, yet be treated very differently. Let's say Mike Huckabee were running, and said the same thing to some folks. Since Huckabee is known for being personable and easygoing, it wouldn't be worthy of a blog post. But since Romney is known for being stiff and awkward in his attempts to relate to regular people (see this cringe-worthy moment), it is. Is that fair? No. Is there anything Romney can do about it? Not really.But there's a silver lining. Being considered stiff and awkward is a lot better than being considered an unprincipled flip-flopper who will do anything to serve his all-consuming ambition. So maybe Romney ought to say a few more things like this, just to make sure everyone knows his biggest problem is his inability to connect, and they shouldn't worry about whether he's changed his positions on major policy issues."I should tell my story," Mr. Romney said. "I’m also unemployed."
He chuckled. The eight people gathered around him, who had just finished talking about strategies of finding employment in a slow-to-recover economy, joined him in laughter.
