Credit: Huffingtonpost.com

Overall, we all know that Mitt has a problem with his Likeability as he trails Obama by over 23 percentage points in the most recent Gallup Likeability Poll.  Not sure why that is any surprise given the way Mitt manages to portray himself to the American public.  Could just be me but Mitt’s efforts to downplay his stature well up near the top of the 1% don’t seem to resonate with him being common folk.

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t tried to relate to the rest of us.

Couple of examples –

Highlighting he hasn’t paid less than a 13% effective tax rate in the last 10 years was no doubt an attempt to show his sharing the same tax bracket as those common folk making $30K or so (at least the single filers – maybe $80K for those married).

His visit to a hardware store in New Hampshire – when asked what he bought, he quickly offered “hardware stuff” – probably to use when he has to do “stuff” around the house.

As he shopped at a grocery store, also in NH, he offered he was going to be doing the cooking that evening and that he had some people coming over.  I guess someone should have informed him that the two ears of sweet corn that he picked up from the stand outside the store would likely fall short in terms of helpings – or maybe he was going to break those ears into several portions – just like the common folk do.

Sure, last time I made a bet with someone, I said , without hesitation, “Bet you $10,000”.

In trying to make connections and show he was one with the myriad of NASCAR fans, he shared that “My friends own NASCAR teams”.  I’m sure we all have friends like that.

Like many of us, the Romney’s own a horse.  We did for a good number of years.  What I missed was anything close to the $77K tax deduction Mitt managed to get for Ann’s dressage horse.  Actually, it wasn’t that my deduction wasn’t close, I never got a deduction.

One of my favorite of Mitt’s attempts to relate to the public was on an early campaign stop in Michigan.  “The trees are the right height,” he said in Michigan, trying to show his love for his native state.  I know I comment on the height of the trees in Pennsylvania all the time.  Is Mitt intimating that Michigan trees are somehow better than trees in other states?

Okay, while not really seen as likeable, Mitt does get the nod when it comes to how people see his ability (vs. Obama) to fix the economy.  Here he beats Obama 52% to 43%.  Of course one key way he will carry out that fix is his management in taxation of Americans.  Oh, Wait – something looks askew…

Undoubtedly looking out for the common man!

Before I go, I can’t ignore another bonehead move by Mitt.  Again showing he is relatively clueless about what he should say and how it makes him look, he cracked a joke about his own birth certificate while campaigning Friday in his native Michigan. “No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate,” Romney said. “They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.”   Given his Likeability ratings among Americans, you would think he would think twice about a comment that immediately puts him alongside one of the biggest assholes ever to grace corporate America – Donny Trump.

Computer generated photo of Mitt and Don – if they had not been separated at birth