So Romney hires a former United States communications guy at the UN to be his foreign policy spokesman on April 20 of this year. The guy has a wealth of experience flakking for Bush and Bolton, which makes him less than satisfactory to me, but I don’t get a voice. He’s also openly gay, and that set off an uproar among the right-wing looneys in Romney’s party.

So today the guy resigned. While his statement was the usual pablum, I think this sentence tells the story:

I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.

Mr. Grenell’s being gay was an issue for Romney supporters.

But the most telling part of this for me is this line from Jennifer Rubin, the Post’s conservative blogger:

Despite the controversy in new media and in conservative circles, there was no public statement of support for Grenell by the campaign and no supportive social conservatives were enlisted to calm the waters. Beyond his statement, Grenell has declined further comment today.

Methinks Ms. Rubin is expressing disappointment if not anger at the Romney campaign, and rightly so. If you won’t stand up to the most obnoxious members of your Party for a new hire whose qualifications were excellent in your eyes two weeks ago, what will you do when the pressure’s on from foreign leaders or even from elected leaders in your own Party?

Romney’s a mouse.