“Maybe.” – Mitt Romney, January 19, 2012

www.mittquotes.com is up and running. Here’s the latest:

Thursday was not a great day for Mitt Romney. In the morning he learned that he retroactively lost the Iowa Caucuses and in the afternoon he saw candidate Rick Perry drop out and endorse Newt Gingrich.

These events, however, are probably minor obstacles. What was likely more harmful was the way Romney spent his evening–struggling to get through another Republican debate. His unquestioned lowlight of the night: responding with an oddly-pitched “Maybe” when asked if he would follow his father George Romney’s 1968 campaign example of releasing multiple tax returns when running for president.

The ten-seconds that followed that response were punctuated by Romney’s awkward laughter and strange eyebrow-raising towards the audience that jeered his weak evasions. He staggered through the question reciting something about not apologizing for “being successful”, President Obama’s “divisiveness”, and America’s status as “one nation under God.”

But the damage had been done, largely because Romney’s quick and perhaps unprepared answer to the question seemed to be a rare glimpse of genuine candor. And what that candor revealed about Romney is what fills his supporters and those considering supporting him with insecurity–that he is, ultimately, a losing mix of smugness and weakness.