Is there something wrong with us?
And by “us,” I mean everyone who lives in Massachusetts.
Are we not friendly enough?
Are we out of touch?
If you look at our presidential candidates, the answer is yes.
Begin with Mitt Romney. You've probably heard him called wooden, robotic, and fake. But, have you ever heard him described as "a good guy," or "a regular guy? Absolutely not!
So, no surprise, in a poll of likeability, President Obama crushes Romney: 66% of adults say they like the president; while just 44% like Romney.
Maybe Mitt's problem is Massachusetts.
Think I'm kidding? Then think about John Kerry:
“This outcome is much more in your hands than in ours,” Kerry told supporters in 2004.
For a while, it looked as if Kerry was headed to the White House in 2004. And why not? Thanks to two wars and a collapsing economy, President George Bush wasn't very popular. Still, by an eight-point margin, voters found Bush more "friendly and likeable" than Kerry, who was often termed a snob and a stiff.
On election night, Kerry reportedly said, "I can't believe I'm losing to this idiot."
Should he have blamed Massachusetts?
And then there's Mike Dukakis. Like Kerry, his opponents described him as arrogant. Like Romney, he was criticized for not connecting with "real people."
His campaign tanked when he made a fool of himself without knowing it…a campaign that was made in Massachusetts.
Mitt Romney's challenge is to break the curse of our cold candidates, and convince a majority of American voters that a presidential hopeful from Massachusetts can be likeable.
(Copyright (c) 2012 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)