WHY WOULD ANYONE THINK THIS IS FUN?

Tuesday night was, obviously, a "shock and awe" experience for Mitt Romney.

As details of his painful and disappointing night leak out, I find myself being disappointed at the glee some folks are finding in hearing about and/or rebroadcasting stories about Mr. Romney's pain and disorientation. I really do not understand this phenomenon. All the guy did was to run for the highest office in the land. He raised the money. He did the work. To be sure, there was a lot about his style and sense of entitlement that many folks found unlikable.

In the final analysis, we have electoral choices because relatively qualified people take the risk of running for public office. In each contested election, somebody walks away disappointed and, whether through fatigue, denial, just plain bad staff work or combination of all the above, usually hurt and confused. There are fewer rejections more personal than an electoral rejection.

On top of all that, the guy actually give a very decent concession speech and was particularly gracious to his campaign staff and his running mate.

So why would anyone want a man who engaged in such a noble undertaking to suffer? Why are people amused at the story of his confusion and the need for a field trip for him to compose himself and the shutdown of all the telephones for the staff contacts?

For my part, I am sorry for the Romney family's pain, grateful for their service to our country and would be fine if they make another $200 million in the next few years.

I very much like it on my side wins but I don't want anyone the worse for having engaged in the process.

[There is an exception to this general rule.  Watching Rovie pretend he was trying to prevent a journalistic error in the Ohio call, when is fact he was trying to avert a $390M disaster was just simply too funny.  Rovie and Morris can suffer a little and it's all right.