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Imperfection could win the day

On paper Mitt Romney looked like the perfect Republican candidate, a made-to-measure fixer in an election that was all about fixing a broken country. Even his detractors would admit that Mitt had fixed a lot of things. At Bain Capital he was a master at the alchemy of venture capitalism. He sorted out the disasterprone Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. And he managed to work with Democrats as the Republican governor of Massachusetts, the fiefdom of the Kennedys.

Then there's all the cosmetic stuff. Mitt's chiselled looks are straight out of presidential central casting. He and his family come with the kind of clear-eyed wholesomeness that is the benefit of an alcohol- and caffeine-free Mormon upbringing. Even his Mormon faith is much less of an obstacle than most Europeans assume.

The only Americans who are vexed by Mitt's Mormonism are hard-core Evangelical Christians, many of whom regard his faith as a deviant sect. But in the unforgettable words of a friend of mine in South Carolina: ‘They hate Obama more than they love Jesus.'

Most importantly the Republicans should be pushing at an open White House door. Unemployment hovers at 8.1 per cent. The wealth of middle class America has fallen by 30 per cent in the past decade and a majority believe America is heading in the wrong direction. It is a perfect mess for a perfect candidate - on paper - to capitalize on.

Johnny Walker to Jesus Christ

And here's the rub. CVs don't win the White House. Americans are suspicious of perfection. This is a nation whose most enduring narrative is the dream that soars against all the odds. Bill Clinton was the boy from Hope, Arkansas, the comeback kid. Barack Obama used to introduce himself in the 2008 election as the ‘guy with the exotic name'. Even George W. Bush made the journey from Johnny Walker to Jesus Christ.

Velcro candidate

The Romneys continue to dwell mysteriously behind the high hedges of their Mormon faith and their extraordinary wealth. America resents neither, but wants the candidate to be able to talk about them with conviction, and in these times of recession it abhors any whi

of unfair advantage in life. Although Romney has been running for the White House for the better part of six years, he has failed to tell his story. He could have started with the extraordinary tale of his forefathers, who fled to Mexico, where his father, George, was born. But this would have involved dwelling on the more exotic aspects of his faith and Romney clearly decided that this was too risky. He has tried to sell the story of his business acumen but he started too late when his opponents, both Republicans and Democrats, had already painted him as a ‘vulture capitalist'. The dirt clung because he allowed it to. Mitt is the Velcro candidate, everything sticks.

Here we need to take a brief detour into a discussion of gaffes. The Bush father and son team famously experienced many verbal malfunctions. Even that great communicator Ronald Reagan delivered his share of howlers. ‘Mittmouth' is an entirely different affliction. Romney's most damning comments are not grammatical pretzels, they are insights into what he really thinks. Whether he was betting a rival Republican $10,000 during a debate, talking about how he ‘loves to fire people', criticizing the London Olympics or indeed his latest and possibly fatal comment to well-healed fundraisers ‘that 47 per cent of the Americans don't pay income tax and are dependent on the government... my job is not to worry about those people', these are much worse than gaffes. They have the sour taste of authenticity. They corroborate the image, carefully honed by his opponents, that Mitt is a true one per center who doesn't feel the pain of middle class America. I believe that Americans would go for a President who was an uncaring, robotic avatar as long as he could fix what's broken. But more and more Americans think that Willard Mitt Romney doesn't actually have a plan. So the only compelling reason for electing him comes down to hatred of Obama.

Obama has been disconcertingly dull as a President. I watched his speech from the Convention floor in Charlotte. He never once veered from the words on his autocue. He never once paused to feel and massage the mood of the audience. The speech was all the more disappointing for being over-shadowed by his wife's teary renewal of vows and Bill Clinton's master class in how to make 20,000 people laugh, cry and understand.

Osama is dead, GM lives

After four years of recession, American voters may be tired and fed-up but they are also wiser and they understand that not all of America's problems can be blamed on the incumbent. And they know deep down that the mere promise of American exceptionalism no longer makes it so. Obama's biggest achievement can be summed up in one line: ‘Osama is dead and General Motors lives.' Add to that some more controversial pieces of legislation, such as healthcare reform, and a formidable electoral machine, and you have a plausible campaign. Even with more than a month left in this bitter campaign, I have a sneaking suspicion that imperfection - in the flesh - will prevail over perfection on paper.

Matt Frei is Washington Correspondent and Presenter at Channel 4 News. His documentary about Barack Obama's Presidency will be broadcast in late October