FINALLY! Finally, someone has put into words what's been bothering me about Mitt Romney.

Much has been made of Romney's pitch-perfect appearance, and he certainly seems like the candidate programmed by central casting. But there's something off, isn't there? The Atlantic nails it in an article called "The Uncanny Valley: What Robot Theory Tells Us About Mitt Romney."

Romney's problem, the Atlantic says, is that he's too close to being perfect without actually getting there, and that freaks people out. It's an effect usually associated with dolls and robots. Their human-like features and characteristics are charming, until they cross some ineffable line and become just a little too human; then we're repulsed. That's the uncanny valley.

Romney's textbook appearance matched with his robotic persona and sometimes cringe-worthy exchanges with "regular" people create cognitive dissonance and make us uncomfortable.

"The closer Romney gets to becoming real to a voter, the more his likeability declines," says Brian Fung in the Atlantic. "On television and at a distance, the former governor radiates presidential qualities from every patrician pore. But in person, his polished persona gives way to what appears a surprisingly forced and inauthentic character."

Romney, the piece goes on, is "the politician from central casting who is stumbling through an audition for a role of regular human. Not that other candidates don't make mistakes, but in Romney's case, awkward moments stand out like neon road signs because we expect him to make the jump from TV to reality as effortlessly and convincingly as his polished appearance would imply."