No one thinks Romney will win, because he won't

Winning. Yesterday, Chuck Todd on MSNBC talked about how Republicans wanted to refocus on Wisconsin as they see Ohio slip away.

They. See. Ohio. Slipping. Away. I'm not sure how Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes makes up for Ohio's 18, or Pennsylvania's 20. Even if Republicans surrender both those states, winning Colorado, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia'states Obama won in 2008'that wouldn't be enough for Mitt Romney to get to 270.

Fact is, Republicans are losing. Just watch their convention and note the utter lack of energy. Nothing. We all hated Sarah Palin, sure, but she lit that convention hall on fire. George W. Bush knew how to amp it up. Zell Miller had the place rocking. On Tuesday night, Chris Christie had to order people to stand up.

We're winning. So embrace it. Because when you do, and you spread the good cheer, this is what happens:

Mitt Romney may have a bigger problem than his low likability and favorability ratings. Even among voters who support him, many say he will lose to President Barack Obama.

Pollsters say that's a serious handicap that deserves more notice than it's receiving. Republican image-makers, focused on trying to make Romney seem warmer, might be wiser to try to make him more plausible ' as a commander in chief and as a politician who can defeat a seasoned campaigner like Obama.

Americans like winners, pollsters say. The "who do you THINK will win" question has a strong ' but certainly not infallible ' track record of signaling where an election is going.

You can't fake this. We couldn't pretend we were going to do well in 2010. We knew a storm was coming, and it was all we could do to hang on to a few of our best electeds. But you remember how you felt two years ago, how you just wanted to tune out and focus on more positive things in your life. Democratic performance was in the gutter, as was fundraising and volunteerism. No one likes to sweat and fight for a losing cause. The whole "fight like you're 10 points down" is ludicrous, because when you're losing, you call it quits.

Now if you need to feel like the race is tied to be properly motivated, then by all means, there's plenty in the traditional media pushing that conceit. But it's not tied. When the Romney campaign is looking for alternatives to freakin' Ohio, after already having surrendered Pennsylvania, it's not a tied race. Not even close.

Oh, and Wisconsin? Democrats haven't run a single ad there. They're not too worried.