Mark Steyn writes at National Review on the tonality of this election.  Romney never seemed to resonate enough to get the right momentum:

"That was part of the problem with Mitt’s campaign: When the sheet music came rolling off the fax machine from the Romney press office, it looked great. Good policies on the economy, national security, social issues — all three legs of the Republican coalition. But, when Mitt put the sheet up on the stand and started to sing, it wasn’t quite what the broader GOP electorate wanted to hear. The governor is a smart, talented, successful man, but he has a clean-cut mien and he says “Golly!” quite a lot. I found that goofily endearing. When someone raised the old polygamy question about Mormons, Mitt could have snidely pointed out that, in contrast to certain New York mayors and Arizona senators, he was the only candidate still on his first wife, but instead he just took Mrs. R’s hand and said “Golly, I hate polygamy.” I don’t know whether I’d want to be married to someone who said “Golly!” quite that often, but that’s Mitt: Not a polygamist, but a gollygamist."

I've been a bit frustrated with the tonality versus underlying structure of Obama's campaign here and here.  But at the end of the day, it is why we hold elections.

Thanks, David.