Mitt connects with the common man, again

Mittens, speaking to an empty Ford Field in Detroit, explains that the poor -- whom he doesn't care about -- should be required to make the payments on a couple of Cadillacs.

Row after row of barren blue seats across the giant stadium made the crowd seem minuscule. Through the rapid-fire, reality-reshaping powers of the Web, a storyline for the day began to take hold that undercut and detracted from Mr. Romney’s words: big speech, tiny crowd.

Ordinarily, such imagery might be overwhelmed by the news of the day: a highly anticipated, substantive address packed with previously unknown details. Mr. Romney called for a 20 percent cut in income taxes; handing control of federal welfare programs to the states; and creating private sector competition for Medicare services.

But the Romney campaign had leaked most of the speech’s contents several days ago, leaving members of the news media with little to focus on — except, of course, the scene itself.

The distractions did not end there. After Mr. Romney finished his remarks, he took a handful of questions from the audience. The final question seemed harmless: Why was Mr. Romney the best candidate to challenge President Obama?

But Mr. Romney veered off course. After ticking off his credentials as a businessman and a Washington outsider, he detailed his fleet of personal vehicles, trying to connect his love of cars with his love of Detroit. “I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually.”

Two Cadillac SRXs, to be precise. The cost of each: $35,000 to $50,000.

Once again, Twitter feeds and news blogs lighted up with Mr. Romney’s latest casual reference to his extraordinary wealth — remarks reminiscent of the playful $10,000 bet he tried to make with Rick Perry during a debate, and his remark about liking to fire those who provide services to him.

(A campaign aide displeased by the fuss later said that Mrs. Romney owns a 2007 and a 2010 model SRX, a luxury crossover vehicle, keeping one at the family’s home in Massachusetts and the other at their beach house in California.) 

Shorter Romney campaign aide:  If you have a house on both coasts, you need two cars, dumbasses!

But it gets better.

Mr. Romney’s aides were quick to dismiss the clinical dissection of the candidate’s words and the location of his speech on Friday. 

 Don't pay any attention to what he said or where he said it.