Romney isn't that dumb, or not dumb enough to launch a dumb riff about airplane windows not going up and down when he's standing right in front of his wife who has just had a near death experience on a smoke filled jet at thirty thousand feet. That's not even not dumb, but worse. Notice she was not looking at him and she was definitely not even not smiling. I hope Mitt wasn't dumb enough to try to collect on his marriage benefits that night.

So what's Romney---the world's walking definition of a smart business guy---trying to achieve by appearing to be dumb and not even dumb, but beyond our consciousness of dumb, a kind of Kenyan dumb---inhabiting an alterative reality beyond the dumb of our own shores?  

The truth is that Romney is luring Obama into a state of over-confidence before their first debate next week---which is not necessarily a dumb strategy. Mistaking Romney as having gone dumb-rogue, Obama will have a hard time landing a punch on what in reality is a smart shape-shifting opponent.

The Romney-Netanyahu-CNN-Fox News-Republican Congress coalition to undermine Obama's foreign policy credentials before the second debate set aside, this Presidential debate will be all about strategy and devastating real-time character attacks which transform national consciousness in the space of a few seconds---possibly making the balance of the campaign immaterial. After lulling Obama and all of America to sleep for the first fifteen minutes of the debate, Romney will catapult off the ropes and spring at Obama with deadly accuracy, eyes ablaze, fingers pointing, weight shifting. Romney will land a succession of punches which will absolutely dumbfound Obama and will change the race from dead-even to a surprising victory for Romney in November. For example:

"Mr. President, I know Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton is my friend. And believe me, you're no Bill Clinton.I might not have beaten Bill Clinton because he was successful, but I'm going to beat you because you're Barack Obama and you've failed."

Obama will fall back on his heels, stunned. He will have been schooled in one-liners and though semi-conscious he will be able to counter with, "There you go again, Mitt." That response would not even not depress me, but way more.

Aside from Romney's automatic airplane windows un-joke, Romney has been acting dumb out on his road trip in Ohio. I was born in Ohio and believe me, Buckeyes aren't that dumb. In Vandalia, Romney piteously tried to change a "Ryan" rant to a "Romney-Ryan" chant. I listened carefully but no Buckeyes joined in.

In Toledo, Romney shape-shifted to using "Romneycare" as his chief credential in the "empathy" department. No Buckeyes were dumb enough to buy such a sudden claim of secular humanism but that isn't the point. The point is to confuse Obama before the debates. There's no telling what Romney will pull during the debates. He could come dressed as Nelson Mandela for all we know. And as long as Romney throws Obama off balance, the election will be over. Buckeyes and everyone else will join the landslide of Republican values voters. 

In the upcoming debate, clever strategy will reclaim its rightful heritage of game-changing prowess, just like in the Reagan era, And the Playing Dumb Romney Strategy will replace the folk lore of Nixon's sweat or Reagan's one-liner as the ultimate example of debate game-changed-ness, and possibly obviate the deadening discourse of every possible, conceivable, trite, common wisdom, old hat, spurious, banal, insouciant, sophomoric, over-used, follow-the-leader, conventional-wisdom takes on the debate---the foregoing not to exclude the 100% chance of any given pundit on planet earth offering an opinion when asked on whether debate expectations are being raised or lowered by this or that faction. Christ on a cross, spare me!

In conclusion, let me make one thing perfectly clear. Speculation on the upcoming debates is not even not insufferable.