Former Massachusetts governor and political aspirant Mitt Romney faces one of his greatest challenges with the New Hampshire primary. After coming in second in Iowa to the Mike Huckabee/Chuck Norris ticket, he is an underdog in a race that should have been a breeze for him since he governed in Massachusetts.
Even though Massachusetts wasn't exactly thrilled with him when he left, he was still a familiar name and could have scored votes on that alone. Only now, he is an underdog to the perennial underdog--John McCain. McCain also received endorsements from both major Boston papers and an anti-endorsement one New Hampshire paper. As Adam Reilly at the Phoenix puts it, "These are desperate times for Mitt."
Why such a cold shoulder? John McCain and Mike Huckabee have caught up to Romney, who was a front-runner, because they have successfully painted him as inauthentic. Romney didn't help matters when he switched from being a rightish moderate to the hard right. If he had continued on his moderate path, it seems that he could have retained a powerful lead.
Really, the only reason this Bostonist has made so much fun of Romney is that he tried so hard to please everyone that he pleased no one. He's a businessman, and he should know that changing his brand mid-stream doesn't always work, and he completely forgot the lessons of New Coke.
Well, if he doesn't win, he has a spectacular consolation prize as a guest-blogger for Glamour.
Speaking of branding, here's Romney in his "Just for Men" phase.
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