My own first thought was that it was, like, super-rude of Romney to smile in Jim Lehrer’s face and say, “Hey bro, you’re pretty cool but I really want to get rid of your job!” But most people immediately responded to the Big Bird part, and I’m sure it makes a big difference that he mentioned a beloved character from the show by name. If he had just said, “I’m going to cut subsidies to PBS, even though I like some of those shows they got there,” or even “I’m going to cut subsidies to PBS, even though Sesame Street is all right,”