Staged Not Advanced

Thank you Sam Allis, you said it better than I did, in the Boston Globe this weekend. Romney's events are staged not advanced. There is a difference.

The occassion was his observation that the Governor has staked his political fortunes almost exclusively on the suburban voter. And so obsessed is the Governor with appearences, style more than substance, that every event is staged. That's what we saw on the Cape recently.

First at the Cape Wind hearings, where the Governor floated in and out of the meeting without ever touching a soul, like shaking hands. Then at the Mirant plant press conference. A sanitary performance. In and out. Pose for the cameras.

These events were intended to counterbalance each other. Oppose the wind farm to curry favor with one constituency, then hammer the polluters publically to appease the other. But cut a side deal privately with the polluters, to get them their above-ground ammonia storage tanks. The Governor's appointee to the Cape Cod Commission has something to do with that, but that's a sidebar for another time.

Selling out Sandwich, to buy off Osterville. The locals won't catch on.

We have a Governor who likes to drive around the suburbs, looking to make them safe for Republicans. As my college roomate used to say, it's not how you drive, it how you look while you're driving.