The one true word to describe Romney: Arrogant

Voter misconceptions about a candidate can carry a lot of weight in elections.
No matter how much momentum and money a candidate has, it's important to at least acknowledge any misconception voters might have and for them to correct it. Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, who is still the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, it's a message he still doesn't get and I hope it comes back to bite him hard.

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney

CNN held the final scheduled debate for Republican presidential candidates in Mesa, Arizona. Toward the end of the debate, moderator John King asked the candidates what voters' biggest misconception about them was.
Ron Paul acknowledged that voters had the misconception that he couldn't win the general election against President Barack Obama. He blamed myths being perpetrated by media outlets and insisted that polls showed him beating Obama head-to-head in a general election compared to his Republican opponents. At least he was honest in his response.
Newt Gingrich, for his part, wanted people to know about his work on welfare reform and balancing the budget. The misconception is that he could do it quickly, when in reality, it took a while to accomplish.
But then things got a little murky. Neither Romney nor Rick Santorum offered any misconception voters might have of them but insisted they were the best candidates to beat Obama. Although Santorum showed he was thin-skinned at times, at least he wasn't arrogant or dumb enough to offer a response like Romney.
Romney, who had earlier described himself in one word as "resolute", began talking himself and would not offer any misconceptions voters had about his campaign. When King interjected by trying to get him to answer the question, Romney's response was: "You get to ask the questions you want. I get to answer them however I want."
Romney then continued to praise himself insisting that he had the background and the skills to be President of the United States. But he offered no misconception of what voters might have of him heading into next week. In fact, he wouldn't even offer a cop-out response like, "That's a question for voters to answer."
Sure, a cop-out response is weak. But it's a lot more forgivable compared to the arrogant response he provided to King – something Santorum should have pointed out while responding to King's question.
Romney's response showed me that he is not a candidate who holds himself accountable for his actions or words. More importantly, Romney doesn't seem concerned about "changing the way Washington works" – a familiar line we often hear from candidates running for national office but rarely see.
Could you imagine if Obama would have offered a similar response like Romney had he been asked the same question? I would be willing to bet that it wouldn't sit too well with conservatives, nor would it sit well with independents and even a few liberal voters who hold Democrats accountable for their actions.
My guess is that the Romney campaign will be able to diffuse this issue quickly. But if I was a candidate running against Romney, I would play that sound bite over and over again in negative campaign ads to point out how arrogant and out of touch he is with the public. If he's not willing to show a little humility and answer a great question, it makes me wonder how many questions he would dodge if he becomes the next commander-in-chief.