Romney: Not Warm. Unfuzzy.

As I’ve said before, the campaign would help itself immensely, at least optically, by playing to Romney’s strength, finding settings where he can chum it up with folks — boys and men, preferably — in the guise of the can-do business man. This L.A. photo op was a disaster and it wasn’t just because the baby blew him off. It’s because the boarded-up shopping center, which he was highlighting as an example of America’s economic decline, makes him look that much colder and out-of-his-element while juggling Junior.

(photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty caption: Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds up Sarah Winick, 7 months, during a campaign stop at Valley Plaza shopping center on July 20, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Romney criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy during the brief campaign event.)