Mitt Romney Wants You To Know That He Likes The Coen Brothers

As part of his effort to make their candidate into an “everyman,” Mitt Romney’s campaign discusses his low class eating habits and love for the Coen brothers.

The most obdurate thorn in Mitt Romney’s side isn’t his various political flip-flops on climate change, gay rights and other controversial topics. It’s the fact that the Republican presidential candidate is worth about $200 million and lives the high life in his many mansions, a fact that makes it hard for Romney to relate to the common voter.

Yes, Romney has tried to show he’s just an average Joe — remember when he tried to bond with black youth by singing “Who Let the Dogs Out”? — but the candidate continues to come up short, presenting opponents with an opportunity to attack his authenticity: Ron Paul recently released an ad in which he described Romney as a “plastic man” and “pretty boy.”

Hoping to turn the tide, Romney has been using his Twitter account to brag about his low-budget meals at fast-food joints like Subway and Carls Jr, the ‘New York Times’ reports. As part of his research for the piece, journalist Ashley Parker talked with various Romney staffers, all of whom have a clear interest in painting their candidate in the best light possible.

In addition to elaborating on Romney’s economical eating habits and telling Parker that the former Massachusetts governor gives his staff his frequent flier miles so they can fly first class, staffers also told the ‘Times’ that Romney, like so many of the young male voters he wants to court, enjoys Joel and Ethan Coen Brothers, the men behind movies like ‘Fargo,’ ‘The Big Lebowski’ and ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’

From Parker’s report:

[Romney] has also bonded with his staff over their shared love of the Coen brothers, the filmmaking duo known for dark comedies and a cult following. Mr. Romney’s favorite movie is “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and he will frequently quote lines from it.

When the campaign is debating going in a certain direction or a new piece of strategy, Mr. Romney will sometimes joke, “We’re in a tight spot,” a line George Clooney’s character utters when the authorities are trying to smoke him and two fellow fugitives out of a house.

Now, this is clearly a planted detail the campaign wants to spread in hopes of showing voters they have something in common with Romney. Will it work? Maybe, but probably only for people who have never heard of Romney, a man who, as Parker points out, cannot be funny.

“…Some of his efforts at humor — like the time he pretended that a waitress in a New Hampshire diner had pinched his bottom — have fallen notably flat.” So too did his joke that he’s “unemployed,” something millions of Americans really are, and they don’t have millions of dollars in security.

Here’s video of the bottom-pinching joke, one that shows the candidate’s less funny and more weird, a word more often associated with Romney than “comedian” or “common man.”