Missing the Boat

Uh, more appearances on "The Colbert Report"?

Kevin Drum isn't a Romney fan, but the Washington Monthly blogger (perhaps noting my summary from last week) wonders about the political obits:

"So why did Mitt Romney crap out against a field of weak competition? The press narrative is pretty clear:

"Boston Globe: 'In the end, his campaign foundered for one basic reason: He lacked authenticity.' New York Times: 'Mr. Romney's advisers . . . conceded that they had failed to overcome doubts about Mr. Romney's authenticity as they sought to position him as the most electable conservative in the race.' LA Times: 'Romney failed the "authentic" test.' Slate: "[Romney] faced one fundamental problem that almost all the papers summarize with one word: 'authenticity.'

"Well, maybe. That's certainly how Romney seemed to me. But I can't help but notice that none of the news pieces hawking this narrative really presents much evidence for it. And based on a scientific poll of a friend I had lunch with, I'm beginning to wonder about this. To battle-hardened reporters and cynical liberals, Romney probably did seem phony. But when I mentioned this offhandedly at lunch, not really expecting an argument, my Romney-supporting friend was clearly taken aback. That had never occurred to him. To him, Romney seemed like the real deal: conservative, good business background, command of the issues, good looks, etc. etc."

Is Barack Obama the messiah? No, it's not a news story. But it quotes a bunch of news stories.

Howard Kurtz hosts CNN's weekly media program, "Reliable Sources."