Big Freddy was tapping his morning newspaper with one hand while reaching for his coffee cup with the other when I joined him.
"What's this all about?" I asked.
"Idle thoughts," Freddy said.
"About what?" I asked.
"About foot-in-mouth disease," Freddy said.
"That can get you in trouble," I said.
"It did for Brady's wife and Mitt Romney," Freddy said.
"I take it you mean what she said about Brady can't be catching the football he throws," I said, "So what? She loves him. But what's that got to do with Romney?"
"Mitt saying he's not concerned about the poor," Freddy said. "Neither of them thinking of how what they said would play.
"He said 'very poor,'" I said. "There's government aid for them, and he added that if there was something wrong with it, he'd fix it."
"Add-on explanations don't make headlines," Freddy said. "Look. If he'd said, 'There's government aid for the very poor, but if I find something wrong with it, I'll fix it,' Democrats would have no comebacks."
"I give you that," I said, "But Brady understands it was just his wife's way of supporting him. His misfires came after his left shoulder gets crunched by the hit from Justin Tuck and he connects only seven out of 17 passes."
"But Mitt's problems come right out of the box which shows his lack of political savvy," Freddy said. "You expect that from a greenhorn, but this is his second time on the wannabee president merry-go-round. There's no political instinct there. Look. He's a good guy. Great family. Earned what he's got. He's a doer once he gets his teeth into something, but mostly, he leaves too many wondering whether there's anything beyond spreadsheet calculation there."
"Which the others have had," I said, "but some are gone, and he's leading the others."
"In the grand total delegates so far," Freddy said, "but look at what Santorum just did winning three states in a row and what Ron Paul and Gingrich have been doing."
"Mostly, they've been trailing," I said.
"But their supporters have fire in their bellies," Freddy said. "There's a chemistry there that's stronger than their organizations."
"What organizations?" I asked. "Mitt's is bigger and richer than the others put together."
"Their energy's from the bottom up, and it shows," Freddy said. "Santorum bleeds real blood for what he stands for. Paul's is rock hard for what used to be way back when. Newt's is for taking no prisoners. Romney's is like a report from a board of directors."
"That's not fair," I said.
"What's fair got to do with politics?" Freddy said. "Presidential campaigns are all about winning, and getting there takes more than what comes off a spreadsheet. We're not feeling so great about what's happened to the economy; millions are worried sick over where they are."
"Well Bush isn't the target anymore — we're where we are on Obama's watch now," I said.
"Who has to be enjoying Romney being sliced and diced by Newt and Santorum," Freddy said.
"Mitt may be leading, but there's not much fire for him out there. He wants to turn it on, he's going to have to do more than he did to save the Olympics. Running for the presidency takes more than responding to a corporate spreadsheet and more than heart itself. It's what makes it tick that counts."
• • •
Bill Plante is a Newbury resident and a staff columnist.
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