Fired Up; Ready to Go (Buy Another One)

Mr. Wilson has brought a humanizing (and humorous) dimension to a candidacy that has sometimes struggled to connect with ordinary voters. He has a penchant for Viagra jokes, carries a three-inch fishing knife and hugs every woman he meets.

— from: For Romney Superfan, a New Truck Courtesy of the Candidate (NYT)

Romney’s most visible fan, Jim Wilson, loses his campaign-festooned truck to fire … and Mitt buys him a new one:

• Romney’s latest nod to Detroit.

• Like the campaign: lots of red, white, and blue, but mostly white, white, white.

• Jim’s Cadillac.

•  Otherwise, not easy to get fired up for Mitt.

— Phil Perdue

(photo 1: unknown. photo 2: Jim Watson/Reuters caption: A fan of Mitt Romney, Jim Wilson (3R), hugs Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (2R) next to his new truck, donated by the Romney Campaign, after a rally in Sterling, Virginia, June 27, 2012. Wilson, a 70-year-old retired insurance salesman from Virginia whose beat-up 1998 GMC pickup decorated with American flags and massive “Romney for President” signs, has been a ubiquitous presence outside campaign events for months, caught fire along a Pennsylvania highway as he was driving to catch up with the candidate for events this week, destroying it and most of Wilson’s clothes and other belongings. Wilson was also gifted the fire extinguisher being held by Romney. . photo 3: Times Dispatch.)