It wasn't long ago when fair-minded Americans from the left, right and center would have seen such steps as needlessly callous and wildly out of step with the American mainstream. Ironically, Romney's standard stump speech accuses Obama of wanting to "transform America." The Republican wants the electorate to perceive the President as some kind of fringe figure, intent on turning the country into an unrecognizable dystopia. It's ironic, because it is Romney who has committed himself to an agenda that's clearly out of the mainstream.