Keep in mind that Mitt Romney was born in 1947, on the first wave of the baby boom. He was nearly 30 when “Saturday Night Live” debuted, with its iconic first cast of John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. He was in a prime position to enjoy “Animal House,” “Caddyshack” or “Trading Places.” Maybe it’s too much to hope that Mitt loved Red Foxx or George Carlin, but how about Bob Newhart at least?

There seem to be at least two possible explanations.

First, Mitt Romney was hermetically sealed from the cultural influences of his generation, emerging intact as an adult with the taste of someone born at least a half-century before. That almost seems possible. After all, Mitt was 20 when “Sgt. Pepper’s” was released, and I think it’s safe to say he didn’t drink deeply from the Summer of Love. In fact, as a devout Mormon, he doesn’t drink at all…

The second explanation is more cynical but at least as plausible.

Given the stiff and scripted nature of his campaign to date, it’s entirely possible that Mitt filtered his funnyman choices through a political prism, carefully removing all those films that might offend.