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July 27, 2011

Romney: Not Warm. Unfuzzy.

By Michael Shaw

Romney juggling baby

As I’ve said before, the campaign would help itself immensely, at least optically, by playing to Romney’s strength, finding settings where he can chum it up with folks — boys and men, preferably — in the guise of the can-do business man. This L.A. photo op was a disaster and it wasn’t just because the baby blew him off. It’s because the boarded-up shopping center, which he was highlighting as an example of America’s economic decline, makes him look that much colder and out-of-his-element while juggling Junior.

(photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty caption: Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds up Sarah Winick, 7 months, during a campaign stop at Valley Plaza shopping center on July 20, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Romney criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy during the brief campaign event.)

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  • Aurora

    Well, this comment will totally demonstrate my bias, my life-filter.  Here it is.

    As a woman-person of a certain age, born in the middle of the last century, I find my eye drawn to that baby, first and, literally, foremost.  And my reaction: that guy is a pro.  A pro at handling babies (well, duh..he has had a LOT of experience. how many in his family?). Usually a child that age would be squirming to get away from a stranger; note how he is holding/supporting her and yet leaving her ’space’. I assume that is her caretaker/mother’s hand to the left, about equidistant from baby as baby is from Romney’s large head. 

    Second reaction, though:  yuck, it looks like he is a butcher, weighing up a ham.

    So, it hits all sorts of instinctive buttons:  this guy, a pro, can handle the needs of the most vulnerable amongst us, safely, etc…vs. this guy weighs every action he performs for the camera.

    Love this site and the inner adventures you provide, Michael!  Thanks.

    • http://www.bagnewsnotes.com Michael Shaw

      Not sure what to think about “a pro.” Perhaps knowing how to hold the kid doesn’t necessarily make  him seem so natural. Maybe that’s where the ham comes in?

    • Gasho

      He may be doing a good job of holding the baby, as in .. “Here hold my baby for a sec while I get something out of my purse” (ie., he’s keeping the baby off the ground and not frightening it) but he’s not accomplishing the politician’s goal: appearing to cherish the babies and the youth of the country.  

      Frankly he looks more interested in keeping his shirt dry in case this one has a leaky diaper or might spit up suddenly.

      And Michael is totally right about the boarded up shopping center.  Unless he’s got a hard hat on and he’s demolishing that thing to make a park.. stay away from scenes like that.

  • http://profiles.google.com/ac.missias AC Missias

    in all fairness, it looks like this is the moment of handing the baby back, rather than the period of holding the baby in homey snuggle mode.  that this photo is featured seems a choice of the photo editor  (or this site) to play up the “juggling a ham” angle over the usual “kissing a cute baby” aspect.  unless he’s worried about his shirt and really didn’t ever hold the baby in a more normal way… we’ll never really know.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ca.vanzant C. A. Van Zant

    I agree this shot may have been one taken while handing the baby to or from Mr. Romney…but the baby’s facial expression is what got my attention.  She seems disconnected to the entire situation and Mr. Romney.  And from THAT, I imagine we have something in common.  The boarded up shopping center in the background is just poetic, though.

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  • Aurora

    *snork*

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