Mitt Romney Bursts Into Song, Awkwardness Ensues (VIDEO)

AW, how long had Mitt Romney been practicing his rendition of "America the Beautiful" in the mirror before he decided to try to slip it into his stump speech all casual-like? We're going to go with a wild guess here and say, "since Barack Obama sang Al Green." Mittens even tries to be cool enough to get the Florida crowd of napping old people to do backup for him by asking in a solicitous music teacher voice, "Can you sing with me?"

They do briefly wake up to accompany him through about half a verse before trailing off again after Mittens meets the high note at 0: 19 with a rather stinging defeat. Then there is a round of confused, tepid clapping like they aren't sure whether silence or applause will embarrass him less, and Mittens smiles like he's just won the junior high talent contest. TAKE THAT, OBAMA. [YouTube]