If the polls are to be believed, it would appear that the logical approach opponents of Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy are using to explain his record of constitution-breaking, flip-flip-flopping, and betrayal, while providing copious details to prove the points, isn’t working.

Maybe that’s because that approach is so, well, left-brained.

Maybe it’s time for a new, more (ahem) right-brained approach.

So here goes.

(Links are absent, because they’re so, y’know, left-brained.)

This is Mitt Romney:

This is Ohio’s previous governor, Bob Taft:

Got it? Okay.

Now let’s compare to :

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mostly raised taxes and increased some fees, in combined amounts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
mostly raised fees and increased some taxes, in combined amounts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

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presided over an economy that generated few new jobs and failed to share in the country’s general 2003-2006 prosperity.
So did , in spite of his vaunted “business” experience.

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opposed Ohio’s same-sex marriage constitutional amendment in 2004. It passed anyway.
called his state’s attempt in (I believe) 2002 at a constitutional amendment too extreme (I believe it never got on the ballot in MA). His state has never passed such a constitutional amendment.

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, an alleged champion of free-market economics, imposed a state-run health care system on his commonwealth that will penalize people who don’t buy coverage either $912 or $1,824 for not having it.
didn’t impose any such system on his state.

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, while claiming a prolife “epiphany,” imposed taxpayer-subsidized abortions with a $50 co-pay on his state.
, who was prolife for decades, didn’t.

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violated his state’s constitution and his oath of office by unilaterally imposing same-sex marriage on his commonwealth.
, for all his myriad faults, did no such thing.

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Despite all of this and so many other items I could list (a lot of right-brainers can’t focus for too long, so I’m stopping here), is considered by many to have been a good governor, and is now a leading presidential contender.
Meanwhile, is considered one of the worst governors, if not the worst, in his state’s history.
But in reality, governed worse than .

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But does have better hair. The hair, plus , remain the only conceivable reasons why is so popular among conservatives who almost universally despise .

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So when you see or hear about Objectively Unfit Mitt Romney, this is the image you should hang onto in your head:

Choosing a GOP nominee for president becomes a much easier exercise.

And you left-brainers are free to criticize yours truly for how weakly I combined the last picture. Alternative pictorial contributions are welcome.

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UPDATE: The artist, formally known as Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion, is responsible for the late-night, uh, improvement to the composite picture.

It’s hard not to think that there is lingering Old Media disappointment that Jose Padilla didn’t beat the rap.

One example supporting that belief is the coverage (bolds are mine) of Padilla’s sentencing, along with the supporting no-info headline, by the Associated Press’s Curt Anderson.

You also have to wonder if AP is trying to have the story escape future search engine inquiries, as the AP’s headline avoids mentioning Padilla’s name, or what he was convicted of:

17 Years for Ex-’dirty Bomb’ Suspect

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Write, it, down — Unless the government manages to screw up the housing market beyond recognition (an unfortunate possibility), these guys are wrong:

The worst housing financial crisis in decades is only going to get worse, a Merrill Lynch report said Wednesday.

The investment bank forecasted a 15 percent drop in housing prices in 2008 and a further 10 percent drop in 2009, with even more depreciation likely in 2010.

From the same link, with the same caveat, these guys are right:

By contrast, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) expects housing prices to remain flat in 2008. NAR did cut its home price estimate for the current quarter, however, to a 5.3 percent year-over-year decline, which represents the steepest drop in that price measure on record. But NAR sees an uptick in home prices in the last two quarters of 2008.

A reminder: The latest comprehensive nationwide report on home prices issued for the third quarter of 2007 showed that they dropped by all of 0.4% during the quarter, and were still UP by 1.8% over the previous year.

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Although, as I noted last week, the first six months of the Ohio’s fiscal year were okay, but the next 18 months look pretty bleak:

The state faces a budget shortfall of between $733 million and $1.9 billion dollars by the middle of next year, the governor’s office said Wednesday.

Gov. Ted Strickland briefed legislative leaders on the state’s money woes this morning and is asking state agencies to draft plans on how they can cut costs, said Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey. “He’s going to manage the situation very aggressively,” Dailey said.

The budget — the Democratic governor’s first — was approved by the Republican-controlled legislature at the end of June with prediction of a $56 million surplus at the end of two years. The poor economy — both nationally and in Ohio — has changed the outlook.

This is so tired: The “poor US economy” grew 3.9% and 4.8% in the second and third quarters; it almost definitely grew in the fourth. Ohio’s, on the other hand, is growing at about 1% (link is to a 2005-2006 chart; 2007 will probably be no better). This is a state-specific problem; don’t try to pass this off on Washington.

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Recession, reschmession — It isn’t just little old me (link probably requires subscription) not buying into the gloom:

NYSE Euronext Inc.’s chief executive sees no evidence that the U.S. economy is moving into a recession and expressed surprise at the magnitude of the Federal Reserve’s rate cut, according to published reports.

“I don’t see any evidence that implies we’re headed into a recession,” Duncan Niederauer told a business group in Vienna, Va. yesterday, according to the report.

Of course, as you can see from the results of this Google News search, Old Media doesn’t care about what a mere executive of “the world’s largest and most liquid exchange group ….. (that) offers the most diverse array of financial products and services” thinks. What could he possibly know? (/sarc)

From Rocky Mount, North Carolina:

Sunday, January 06, 2008

It’s five months later. The wound has closed, the bleeding has stopped and the pain has almost faded.

But when Darrell Martin touches his left side, he feels more than a scar.

When his hand brushes against the divot on his torso, he can vaguely detect the discomfort of sandy pavement against his face, a warm liquid trickling toward his spine, the glow of blue lights flashing through the dark.

And he can almost hear the gunshots.

For the first time since being wounded in the line of duty, Rocky Mount Senior Police Officer Darrell Martin took to the streets in a cruiser Saturday – five months to the day from when he was shot.

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