“He’s a nice guy, but . . .” is exquisitely condescending. It’s probably not true: Obama strikes us as a petulant narcissist. But calling someone a “nice guy” is rarely a genuine compliment, and it never is when conjoined by “but.” As any man who has ever been rejected by a woman knows, describing someone as “a nice guy, but . . .” is another way of saying he’s ineffectual. That is exactly the point Romney is making about Obama…

Yet if Geraghty is right, Romney’s approach is better suited to capturing independent swing voters. It will be easier for them to change their minds if they believe they overestimated Obama’s competence rather than that they supported somebody who posed a “foundational” threat to America.

It might also be helpful to remind Obama voters that even in retrospect, their support for him in 2008 seems plausible when compared with the alternative. That would be harder for Romney to do, though, seeing as how he’s accepted the endorsement of John McCain.