America, I'm so in love with you I think it's fair to say that Mitt Romney is one of the best-preserved 65-year-old men in the history of US politics. His full head of mostly dark hair and trim physique make him look much younger. However, Mr Romney is a bona fide senior citizen - three years older than Dwight Eisenhower was when the former general was first elected president - and sometimes his performance during the current presidential race betrays his years. Such was the case this week, when the Romney campaign displayed a cultural sensibility that recalled the times in this country when the only way a Little Richard song could get on mainstream radio was to have Pat Boone sing it. Mr Romney's senior moment came as he responded to a withering television commercial released by President Barack Obama's campaign last weekend. That advertisement features Mr Romney delivering an off-key rendition of "America the Beautiful," while the viewer is treated to scenes of empty offices and factories and headlines alleging that Mr Romney moved jobs from the US to other countries and kept money in offshore accounts. Mr Romney counter-attacked with a commercial noting the country's dismal economic condition and suggesting that Mr Obama only cares about helping his campaign donors. To drive that point home, it concluded with the president singing "I'm so in love with you," a line from the old Al Green hit "Let's Stay Together" to cheers from supporters at a fundraiser this year that was attended by Mr Green himself. Viewed from a tactical standpoint, I was surprised that the Romney camp used Mr Obama's performance. I could see why Mr Obama featured Mr Romney in his commercial; the Republican's warbling suggested a lack of harmony between his rhetoric and his record in government and the private equity business. But unlike Mr Romney, Mr Obama sang quite well, raising the question of why the opposition would show him off to his advantage, even in this limited sense. One of the better answers I have found comes from a well-known supporter of Mr Romney - Suzy Welch, former editor in chief of the Harvard Business Review, and wife of Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. In an appearance on CNN with her husband, Mrs Welch suggested that Mr Obama's personal style and choice of musical material define him as a member of a "different America." I would imagine this is why Mr Romney's campaign included the snippet of Mr Obama singing "Let's Stay Together" at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. They hoped it would convey his otherness. "It's the difference between the songs that they're singing," Mrs Welch said. Mitt Romney didn't exactly do a beautiful job on that song, but think about what he's singing, OK? I mean it's that patriotic song and he goes all the way through it.Then you've got the very cool Barack Obama singing Al Green. That is the two different Americas. Isn't it? Putting aside the question of what this kind of thinking means for America (I'll stick to the singular), I think it spells trouble for Mr Romney's strategic effort because you have to be really old - or, I guess, spend a lot of time with someone really old - to hear "Let's Stay Together" and think of it as a symbol of a "different America." Al Green's song topped the US pop charts more than four decades ago, in 1972, meaning people who bought the record as children are eligible for membership in the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). The song - a paean to monogamy, whether times "are good or bad, happy or sad" - is so middle-of-the-road it has become part of that canon of 1960s and 1970s hits that are frequently performed on popular television shows such as America's Got Talent and American Idol. It was a sign of the times that after Mr Obama sang "Let's Stay Together" at the Apollo, he received a tongue-in-cheek invitation to reprise the song with Mr Green on American Idol. In my home, "Let's Stay Together" has played an important role in maintaining family harmony at difficult moments. When my son was a baby, I used to play him that song while I rocked him to sleep. He's 14 now and recently I got him to listen to his old lullaby to see what he thought of it. He suggested that it helped him sleep as a baby because it was boring. Think about it, Mr Romney: can you really scare American voters with stuff that 14-year-olds regard as boring?