Romney the child

"And if you don't do it my way, you can all go straight to hell." (Tim Shaffer/Reuters) Mitt Romney last night in his acceptance speech:

To the majority of Americans who now believe the future will not be better than the past, I can guarantee you this'if Barack Obama is reelected, you will be right.

My first reaction to that line was to not hear it'I was still laughing so hard about Clint Eastwood's empty chair performance, I didn't follow much of what Romney was saying. But when I went back and rewatched the speech, I was really mad'at first. I mean, it's one thing to say you think the nation will be better off if you get elected; it's quite another to say that the nation will enter a state of permanent decline if you don't. It's not just that he made such a harsh claim about what a second Obama term would mean, but shouldn't presidential candidates seek to boost the public's optimism rather than cynically fuel pessimism?

But it didn't take long for me to see the comment as what it really is: a desperate plea from a flailing candidate. Romney's grim guarantee was a petulant outburst from a child who isn't being allowed to have his way. It's the natural evolution of the "I'm rubber, you're glue" campaign. Mitt Romney has gone from hurling insults to hurling threats. And through it all, he has acted just like a child.