海角大神

Mitt Romney is bailing on the women of ABC鈥檚 鈥�The View,鈥� in case you haven鈥檛 heard. When the talk show aired Monday morning, co-host Barbara Walters 鈥� the show鈥檚 empress of celebrity interviews 鈥� announced that the GOP nominee had canceled his scheduled Thursday appearance.

鈥淥ver the weekend, his people have said that he had scheduling problems and would not be coming on with us, nor at this point did he feel that he could reschedule,鈥� .

Spouse Ann Romney had been booked along with her husband, and she鈥檚 still coming. Walters said 鈥淭he View鈥� was happy to have her.

鈥淲e are sorry we won鈥檛 have Governor Romney, and that鈥檚 the situation,鈥� said Walters. We won鈥檛 characterize her tone of voice when she said this, but if we did, 鈥減eeved鈥� is a word we鈥檇 consider.

So is Romney stiffing a show he doesn鈥檛 like? After all, the famous 鈥�47 percent鈥� video from a Romney fundraiser showed him saying in private that 鈥淭he View鈥� was dangerous territory for him, full of liberals. Perhaps he鈥檚 giving it a miss because he鈥檚 figured out that Whoopi Goldberg would grill him about that, then Walters would get into the 47 percent numbers, and the next thing you know he鈥檇 be so low on the couch cushions that show nonliberal Elisabeth Hasselbeck wouldn鈥檛 be able to pull him out with an easy question.

Well, that鈥檚 possible. Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt is pushing that explanation: this afternoon, 鈥淭he View was apparently too 鈥榟igh risk鈥� for Mitt Romney.鈥�

But we don鈥檛 really think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going on. Romney has shown he can handle a tough televised situation, after all 鈥� remember the debate earlier this month? Instead, we鈥檇 posit two other reasons that Romney鈥檚 a no-show.

The first is that he doesn鈥檛 need 鈥淭he View鈥� anymore.

For months, the Romney campaign has been desperately trying to humanize its candidate, and toward that end, appearances on talk shows can be useful. A kind of transference goes on, in which viewers associate some of the comfort and good feelings they get from familiar hosts with the guests, no matter how many car elevators they own. The campaign made "The View鈥� booking for this reason.

But the debate seems to have transformed how at least part of the public sees the Massachusetts ex-governor. Suddenly, polls show he鈥檚 made gains in likability. For instance, a Politico/George Washington University out Monday has 51 percent of respondents saying they now view Romney favorably as a person, while 44 percent say they view him unfavorably. That鈥檚 the first time this survey has shown Romney鈥檚 favorable rating as above water 鈥� more positives then negatives.

In that context, "The View鈥� does indeed look like a risk that Romney doesn鈥檛 have to run, because the level of voter approval has changed.

Second, this could be about Ann Romney as much as Mitt.

With only weeks to go before Election Day, Mrs. Romney's been stepping out more and more on her own. She semi-cohosted 鈥�Good Morning America鈥� the other day and did fine.

Her own likability ratings are higher than her husband鈥檚. So why bother with Mitt? Just let Ann do it. She can exude warmth, distance herself when her husband鈥檚 policies are mentioned, and testify to his character. She鈥檚 the most effective Romney surrogate of all 鈥� as first lady Michelle Obama is for her husband.