Romney Plays Coy With YouTube Debate

In a move that boggles the mind, Mitt Romney has declared that he won't take part in the Republican version of the CNN/YouTube debate in December. Why? Here's the reason:

Asked about the [YouTube] format, which featured video questions submitted by the public, Romney said "There is a degree of respectfulness that ought to be associated with the process for selecting a nominee. From what I've heard, that level of respectfulness was breached."

But CNN is trying to woo him back to the stage, and he's not exactly saying no. In fact, he'll do it if the debate date is changed.

While we would agree that the CNN/YouTube debate was an overhyped affair, it forced the candidates to interact with people who were distinctly not like themselves. The debate said, "This is America - and some of us are a little different." Campaign commercials are directed toward an imaginary "ordinary American" who has been determined by focus groups and then tilted in either the conservative or liberal direction. But the YouTube debate boldly admitted that some people don't fit that mold. Rejecting the YouTube debate makes Romney look like he doesn't want to mingle with the great unwashed.

As for the "respectfulness" (is that a word?), if Romney were elected president, he would have to govern over plenty of people who didn't respect him. Surely he got used to that in Massachusetts.

Let's step in the shoes of Romney's campaign advisors. Skipping this debate is completely out of character. Despite his clearly conservative stripes, Romney is painting himself as the "not-your-grandparents-Republican-candidate." He has a hip website and the Five Brothers blog. He has his own YouTube channel. He had mini-Mitt. And, obviously, his own campaign staffers, such as Will Ritter, have discovered the joys of Web 2.0.

Image of Mitt Romney interfacing with thoroughly vetted police officers, whom he apparently prefers to the sloppy unwashed who sometimes pop up in YouTube videos.