After a rocky week that saw plenty of conservatives break away from Mitt Romney, New York Times columnist David Brooks summed up the state of affairs on Sunday.
Brooks was one of several panelists on NBC's "Meet The Press" roundtable, which dove into some data surrounding Romney's popularity.
"Look at his high unfavorable ratings," host David Gregory said. "At 50%. The highest of any candidate running in recent memory. This is an image problem that his philosophical statements in this speech in May to fundraisers only exacerbates."
Brooks did not mince words, calling Romney "the least popular candidate in history."
"He has to look at what the president's weakness is," Brooks said. "He's never gonna win a popularity contest."
Brooks added that Romney "does not have the passion for the stuff he’s talking about."
"He’s a problem solver," Brooks said. "I think he’s a non-ideological person running in an extremely ideological age, and he’s faking it."
Polls have brought grim results surrounding Romney's favorability, with a late August ABC News/Washington Post survey drawing a 35 percent likability rating.
Romney's 47 percent comments added fuel to that fire. After his comments were leaked on Monday, Brooks conceded that he sees the GOP presidential hopeful as a "kind, decent man" running a "depressingly inept presidential campaign."
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