http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Rom ... aign,_1968
Quote:
The qualities that helped give Romney success as an automotive industry executive worked against him as a presidential candidate;[17] he had difficulty being articulate on any issue, often speaking at length and too forthrightly on a topic and then later correcting himself while maintaining he was not.[18][19][11] Reporter Jack Germond joked that he was going to add a single key on his typewriter that would print, "Romney later explained...."[18] Life magazine wrote that Romney "manages to turn self-expression into a positive ordeal" and that he was no different in private: "nobody can sound more like the public George Romney than the real George Romney let loose to ramble, inevitably away from the point and toward some distant moral precept."[11] The perception grew that Romney was gaffe-prone and a plodder."
Quote:
The "brainwashing" reference had been an offhand, unplanned remark that came at the end of a long, behind-schedule day of campaigning.[179] By September 7, it found its way into prominence at The New York Times.[169] Eight other governors who had been on the same 1965 trip as Romney said no such activity had taken place, and one of them, Philip H. Hoff of Vermont, said Romney's remarks were "outrageous, kind of stinking ... Either he's a most naïve man or he lacks judgment."[144] The connotations of brainwashing, following the experiences of American prisoners of war (highlighted by the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate), made Romney's comments devastating,[26][163] especially as it reinforced the negative image of Romney's abilities that had already developed.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mitt-romney-recover-gaffes-questions-win-voters-beat-president-barack-obama-experts-article-1.1129399