We’re now getting a lot of “Romney in disarray” stories; we’re also hearing that the solution is for Romney to go out there and sell his five-point plan for the economy.

You’ve got to be kidding. Has anyone actually looked at that “plan”? Not only is it pathetic; its patheticity (pathos? That doesn’t sound right) is no accident. On the contrary, it reflects the same forces that have made the Romney campaign in general such a dud.

It’s not just that the plan’s rhetoric is the same as every other GOP plan since 2004. Nor is it just the complete absence of specifics. It’s the fact that the plan is written in code; Romney doesn’t dare say explicitly what he’s talking about, because his actual agenda is so unpopular.

So, let’s look at the “plan”:

And unlike the president, I have a plan to create 12 million new jobs. It has 5 steps. [1] First, by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables. [2] Second, we will give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and the careers of tomorrow. When it comes to the school your child will attend, every parent should have a choice, and every child should have a chance. [3] Third, we will make trade work for America by forging new trade agreements. And when nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable consequences. [4] Fourth, to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in America will not vanish as have those in Greece, we will cut the deficit and put America on track to a balanced budget. [5] And fifth, we will champion SMALL businesses, America’s engine of job growth. That means reducing taxes on business, not raising them. It means simplifying and modernizing the regulations that hurt small business the most. And it means that we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of healthcare by repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Point by point:

1. This describes what Romney wants to see happen, not what he’d do to make it happen. But to the extent it means anything, it means scrapping environmental protection so that we can drill, baby, drill. Why doesn’t he say that? Because voters care about the environment.

2. Again, what does this mean? If it means anything, it means school vouchers — which are unpopular.

3. Trade agreements per se aren’t big job creators — they increase exports, but they also increase imports. And while a confrontation with China is the implicit subtext of the second part, Romney is apparently unwilling to get explicit.

4. Romney’s claim that he will reduce the deficit rests on the assertion that he will offset huge tax cuts by closing loopholes — but he refuses to name a single example, because tax breaks are popular. Also, Medicaid — his biggest single spending target — turns out to have substantial public support, too.

5. Tax cuts for small businesses actually means tax cuts for rich people; there’s a small subset of rich people who own small businesses. But Romney has to cloak the real policy in mom-and-pop rhetoric.

So Romney’s vagueness on jobs reflects the basic unpopularity of his real agenda.

What the Romney revival people imagine is that he can now go out and aggressively sell his carefully unsubstantive economic ideas, without letting voters know that his underlying ideas involve things they really don’t want.

I suppose a master politician might be able to pull that off. But you go to an election with the candidate you have …