A Tale of Two Romneys

The GOP candidate accentuates the positive. Except when he goes negative

David K. Purdy / Sipa

Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks to supporters on New Years day.

What a nice guy! Mitt Romney is all humble and reasonable, a human goose-down comforter lulling the Iowans who have come to hear him at a classic heartland café in downtown Newton on a Saturday morning. "I don't think anybody votes for yesterday," he says, streaming balm. "We vote for tomorrow. Elections are about the future." Romney's version of the future sounds as if he's pickpocketed the polling data used by Democrats roaming the cornfields, with an occasional Republican nod to lower taxes and a strong defense. He talks about the need for an alternative-energy plan, better schools, better...

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