Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax's Ronald Kessler is a Romney-fluffer from way back, so the Republican National Convention was too good a fluffing opportunity for him to pass up. Indeed, Kessler has been reporting from Tampa all week.
And what kinds of things has he been reporting? Exactly what you'd expect.
In an Aug. 28 column, Kessler was in full fawning mode:
Ever since I first interviewed Mitt Romney in 2007, I have been amazed at his one-dimensional portrayal in the press. Few people in public life have contributed as much as he and Ann Romney have to helping others, yet the media rarely tell those stories.
Now the GOP convention is planning to relate some of those stories to spotlight Romney’s human side, raising the question: Why has it taken so long?
The answer is that the press has not been interested in running positive stories that portray Romney’s human kindness and that Romney himself has refused to turn those acts of kindness into political talking points.
Kessler lovingly quotes one of Romney's sons, and he repeats for the umpteeneth time the story of how Romney helped a Bain Capital associate find his missing daughter.
In his Aug 30 column, Kessler's fluffing target is Romney's wife:
President Obama may be the celebrity president, but Ann Romney showed at the GOP convention that she is the new star.
Unlike Obama, who has offered mainly broken promises, Mitt Romney’s wife came across as genuine. Unlike Obama, she was not divisive. And unlike Obama, she embraced success and offered real hope that this country can be turned around by the man she has known since she was 15 years old.
“This man will not fail,” Ann Romney said. “This man will not let us down.”
You may recall that Kessler skeeved us all out back in 2007, when he wrote about Ann Romney's "good carriage, rosy complexion, square jaw, and blond mane," creepily adding: "When she is not flashing her truly unbelievable smile, she may lower her eyes demurely. But Ann Romney is not demure — she may be modest, but she isn't meek. She is unpretentious, but she isn't shy. She lowers her eyes, thinking, and then looks up directly at her interviewer and dazzles him with that smile."
Kessler managed to restrain himself from going that far this time.
