MICKEY KAUS: “If I were conspiracy-minded, I might think the press (or at least The Hill) was trying to sucker Mitt Romney into attempting an Oprah/Bill Clinton ‘I-feel-your-pain’ moment at the town hall debate tonight. If Romney can do that non-artificially and effectively, I’ll be very surprised. Seems more likely to be awkward.”

I dunno. Some cyborgs can be surprisingly convincing.

UPDATE: Roger Simon says Mickey is wrong about Romney: “Actually it’s Romney’s opponent who’s the awkward stiff when it comes to empathy because he’s inauthentic. Romney has spent more personal time actually doing good works for people in tough (read: cancer-ridden) circumstances than any politician I’ve ever heard of. The media declares him to be inauthentic, but if you watch him, he really isn’t.”