Another Romney pre-mortem

Joan Walsh in Salon:

In the end I think Romney killed his own campaign, not because he’s a bad person – he may be – but because, in addition to his ineptness, he came to symbolize what’s wrong with our economy, in every way. The tax rate he pays is a scandal. Shoveling millions of tax-free dollars to his sons is, too. Bain Capital was no job creator (unless you count Bain execs); the firm borrowed money to buy companies, saddled the companies with their debt and made huge fees, whether or not the firm survived.

I disagree.  Romney comes across as inept only because of the ludicrous etch-a-sketches forced upon him by the unhinged.  He made a terrible mistake accepting the nomination of a party taken over by the lunatic fringe.  Yes, the tax rate he pays is a scandal, but if he had simply said "I'm going to raise taxes for people like me," the scandal would have instantly become a campaign asset.  He could have run on, not run away from, Romneycare.  He could have become, to paraphrase Sally Cohn, "the mature adult in the room," leading "not with bullheaded self-righteousness but with self-reflection and deliberation."