You can almost pity Republican pundits like Karl Rove. They keep trying to sell Romney to undecided voters based on middle-of-the-road issues like the economy, and then people like Todd Akin open their mouths. So last night Rove was back on On The Record, assuring us that Romney has our middle-of-the-road issues at heart and that we’ll really like him when we get to know him.

He began, as others have done recently, by criticizing the Obama campaign for attacking Romney rather than selling their own record. “I do think President Obama's campaign has made a very cynical decision that they can win this election without offering a concrete and positive and …they've focused their efforts since May 15th on trashing … the reputation, the persona, the character of Mitt Romney.  [They think they] can run out the ads that suggest he killed a woman with cancer through his own indifference. We can do these things and create such a negative reputation and image of Mitt Romney that he can't win….”

But he thinks (or at least he says he thinks) Romney can win, even among the seniors and women who are a traditional Democrat constituency. “I think a lot of people that -- you hear the statistic one out of every two voters gets -- you know, gets most of their money from the government [like Medicare and Social Security]… I've found older Americans, seniorsenAmericans are those among the most concerned about deficits, debt and the future of the country and are gravely concerned about the direction of the country and want to get it going in the right direction.” (Really? Aren’t these the people whose programs the Republicans keep threatening to slash?)

And what, asked Van Susteren, should Romney do to bring in women? “By talking about the issues that women, and ironically enough, men, both care about, talking about jobs, economy, deficit, debt spending, health care, Medicare. Remember, in most families, I suspect … it is the woman who is generally the caregiver and in charge of the family's health…

“The second thing is, is that it strikes me Mitt Romney has a big challenge in sharing more of who he is. Both men and women -- and I think this is particularly true among women -- want to know what makes him tick… And the more that they get to know him – (then what? He didn’t finish that sentence.)…..This week they were having a good debate about Medicare (Really? I thought it was a terrible debate – full of threats and very short on substance) and then along came Todd Akin and his unfortunate comment on Sunday, and that's dominated more of the coverage this week than Governor Romney and his team would like to have, I'm sure ....Most people don't know very much or an awful lot about Mitt Romney.” That will change next week, Rove promised. The convention will be a chance for Romney to share more of what he and his family are all about and his concrete plans for America should he be elected president.

Will this be a close election? Van Susteren asked. Rove, the numbers man, admitted it probably would be. Then he tried to pump up the optimism by reminding people that in 1980 Jimmy Carter led Ronald Reagan until the debates. “Then at the debates, the American people said, Look, we've made a judgment about the incumbent. We've found him wanting. And this actor from California has given us the reassurance that we need to be able to vote for him… by the debates, it may start to widen out just like it did in 1980.”

Very well, Mr. Rove, if you say so. Your humble servant is waiting with bated breath for Mitt Romney to make me love him.