Did my ears deceive me? Was that the “Tonight Show” audience Tuesday night giving Mitt Romney big ovations? On everything from foreign policy to health care and the tax code to Rick Santorum?
They cheered when Mitt said President Obama shouldn’t have hinted to Dmitri Medvedev – even away from a hot mic – that there would be more “flexibility” on missile defense once Obama was reelected. They cheered when Mitt said that if Vladimir Putin was really on our side, he would be fighting for freedom, not for oppression. They cheered when Mitt said he hopes to be the Republican nominee (and laughed when he spontaneously suggested Santorum as press secretary in a Romney administration). They cheered when Mitt said we should encourage businesses to bring foreign profits back to the U.S. They even cheered when Mitt said it’s a dangerous world, and we shouldn’t reduce the size of our military! Oh, and there was a smattering of applause for Marco Rubio; maybe a few tourists from Florida?
Not quite the reaction one might have expected from a sophisticated audience in La La Land.
And, by the way, as for the stiff, awkward, plastic Romney of legend? If he ever existed, he certainly didn’t put in an appearance at Jay Leno’s desk. In fact, Romney was at ease, relaxed, smart and funny throughout. Really. Check out in particular his brief free associations on possible VP candidates.
I was surprised when Ron Paul was on recently because the audience reaction was very similar (and not just when he talked about legalizing drugs).
One caveat: There's an applause sign on these shows out of camera view. Was the applause spontaneous, or directed? n nI like to think it was spontaneous, and have no idea if the sign was lit up for anything other than the initial introduction and end of segment. It migh be of value to find out.