US Presidential Race Tied

Good looking, but not too good looking.

The US Presidential race seems for the moment to be uncannily close. The latest polls show a tie nationally, a tie in Ohio, a tie in Michigan, a tie in Virginia. This is a move up for Romney, who was trailing slightly.

Looks like a “Ryan bounce.” Will it last? Perhaps. Romney should get a bigger bounce from the convention than Obama, because he is less well known. It might be enough to take a slight lead.

In retrospect, Ryan seems to have added something crucial to the ticket that I did not foresee: likability. The importance of this cannot be overestimated. In my experience, the guy who wins the election is almost always the guy the voters feel most comfortable with, the guy they feel best about having appear in their living rooms regularly over the next four years.

Obama is strong on that score, and Romney has been weak—too perfect, too moral, too handsome, too rich, too self-controlled. But Ryan seems to be pretty good here. A lovable jug-eared geek. Good-looking, but in a goofy way. If he can remain a big part of the campaign, and Romney sits back as a kind of Chairman of the Board, or CEO to Ryan’s COO, it may be just what the Republicans need.