Tagg! A Defense

A reader writes:

Hey! Will you lay off Tagg Romney? I know you think it is funny to make fun of Romney's squeaky clean Mormon image, and their sparkling enthusiasm does elicit memories of the Osmond show, and I think Mitt deserves every bit of mocking for his flipflops and his saccharine campaign style.

That said, I was friends with Tagg at the LDS Missionary Training Center. He went on his mission to Bordeaux at the same time I went to Paris. We also had French classes together at BYU and studied together. I've hardly spoken to him since graduation, but I still consider him a friend.

Tagg was a genuinely nice guy without a hint of arrogance or snobbery about him.  I never once suspected that his family was worth $500 million or that his grandfather was president of an automobile company, governor of Michigan and a leading candidate for the White House.  He was smart, well spoken, polite. easy to talk to and a genuinely nice guy.  Those qualities are rare enough among people with a little money, but shocking to find from a family that many would consider part of America's elite.

I've no doubt he's a great guy. But if we can't have a laugh at the bland, super-nice "Up-With-People" vibe of Romney's cultural Mormonism, then it's going to be a long campaign.