The Problem With Romney - But...
There is nothing about this election and the frustration on the Right that would not be solved if Ronald Reagan were here to run again, or if Marco Rubio were only about four years further into his Washington career. There is no Establishment RINO conspiracy led by Mike Murphy to deny the rightful nomination to a True Conservative. There is, rather, the usual selection of flawed human beings and imperfect politicians. Bill Clinton wasn’t any Democrat’s first choice in 1992 either.
I discount Ben Domenech’s weekly post on the state of the race - he has been on record since participating in the Young Guns podcast as 1) never having been wrong in a Republican nomination prediction, and 2) betting this time on “the field” over Romney. If I were in his position, after seeing the three most purportedly appealing “field” alternatives crash and burn under the jeweler’s loupe that is 21st century presidential politics, I’d be trying to push my thumb down harder on the scales as well. The problem is that the readers of Red State are not going to select the next president.
I am not a Romney enthusiast. I recognize the wooden delivery, the politically awkward statements that are perfectly sensible when uttered in a staff meeting devoted to setting a turnaround strategy for a failing business venture, the problem (!) of being successful in a world where The Vacuous Garment has fastened on envy as his basic electoral strategy.
But I also recognize, as do, for example, smart, principled conservatives such as John Hinderaker, Ann Coulter, and Chris Christie, that we have to choose from among the actually available alternatives, not our dreams or wishes. Claire is right- There is No Alternative.
It is also true that points most often cited against Romney - the Massachusetts health care program, and the birth control payment controversy - were actually examples of excellent performance in an impossible situation. “RomneyCare” was the best available alternative to the single payer program that was inevitable had Governor Romney not been able to use persuasion and coalition-building to block it with the most free-market program possible under the circumstances, designed by the most free-market recognized conservative health care experts - Prof. Mark Pauly of Penn and AEI and Edmund Haislmaier of Heritage, all fighting against a legislature 85% controlled by the Democrats who were advised by ObamaCare’s designer Jonathan Gruber of MIT.
And contrary to Newt’s bald-faced lie volunteered to Peter Robinson in his Uncommon Knowledge special interview, the leading Catholic intellectuals lauded Governor Romney for the heroic steps he took, even beyond his veto (which was overridden) trying to defend the conscience exceptions regarding abortion, birth control, and abortifacient drugs. Prof. Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard Law and former US Ambassador to the Holy See says: “At this moment when religious liberty is under attack from many quarters, people of all faiths won’t find a more ardent or effective advocate than Mitt Romney.”
A good executive combines knowledge, judgement, and leadership. By every account, Romney has been an outstanding executive in every endeavor he has taken up. He has doggedly sought out the best and most complete facts available, taken balanced risks, and shown that he understands when to be firm and when to be flexible. He has led both by example and by cheerleading, as when he went to the imminent Staples store opening bearing pizzas and pep talks for the floor employees.
So, what’s the problem? It is the way that the Presidency has evolved and what it has become. To conquer the tasks, you need to be an extrovert with a thick hide. Mr. Romney is absolutely not an extrovert, nor is his hide thick enough or his antenna well enough developed at this point.
When a “normal” person seeks a “normal” job, it involves a two-stage process: 1) Sell yourself to the employer, and then, after being hired, 2) Do the Job.
When seeking the Presidency of the United States, there is an endless campaign, inauguration….. and then another endless campaign broken up with other more traditional executive work. If you do not like or excel at the campaign process, governing will be a problem because a large part of the national governing process is the constant, endless, never-ending sales job. Fred Thompson discovered this in 2008 - realizing that he didn’t even want to dig in for the first campaign.
And as our current president has learned (has he?) the sales job is not about simply making a speech. He has done that endlessly, and no sale. It is about constant interplay, endless back-and-forth, non-stop marketing. The decisions are easy, getting them implemented is extremely difficult. Every word is questioned, every red herring is invoked. If you don’t relish the campaign process as a natural salesperson, you will suffer on the job.
It is obvious that the only real alternative is “Oh, all right, Romney, then” (H/T, Mr. Robinson)- because the other candidates are impossible.
But someone needs to go persuade Mitt that he needs to a) act as though he likes this process, and b) learn to actually like it more, even when Bret Baier asks about immigration, OWS whines about the rich, or Jay Carney talks about taxing the rich.
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Comments:
Oct '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Duane Oyen
Minnesota and Colorado were pure evangelical triumphs, the fruit of the Family Research Council/Focus on the Family endorsement that got Newt so riled up. Once that happened, it was Santorum's turn as ABR; he is now taking his hits as the world looks closely at him the way they did with the others.
many sane conservative commentators feel queasy about mitt, including peggy noonan ( keep scrolling down) and krauthammer.
Edited on February 21, 2012 at 5:49amSep '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Romney 2012: Abjects in mirror are closer than they appear.
Aug '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
I don't want 4 more years of Obama. I don't want the next SCOTUS dominated by Obama appointees. I am not looking to have a point made about social conservatism this time- just fix the economy. I am supporting the candidate who is most likely to win from the slate we have. I am supporting Romney. Thank you Duane for a very sensible article!
Oct '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
41jellis Santorum campaign stupidity continuuuuuuuues. politico.com/news/stories/0…
41jellis Presidential politics as farce: washingtonpost.com/national/healt…
Edited on February 21, 2012 at 6:40amJun '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
It'll be great. President Romneys forever:
Feb '12
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
That is awesome. What is the deal with all the Y chromosomes? This family seems almost genetically incapable of producing girls.
Nov '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Well, Mitt has become at least somewhat more conservative over the years, and he's more conservative than his dad, right? So if the trend continues, this can only be a good thing.
Feb '12
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
John Marzan: 41jellis Santorum campaign stupidity continuuuuuuuues. politico.com/news/stories/0…
41jellis Presidential politics as farce: washingtonpost.com/national/healt… · 12 minutes ago
Edited 11 minutes ago
An understandable slip, actually, not stupidity. You can also expect that spokesmen will sometimes say Osama instead of Obama (people on Obama's side have done it, too). Should we tear our hair out because of it?
Apr '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Peter Robinson: While I've got you, Duane--I'm hoping you'll have time to come back and keep up with the comments--two questions:
1. Can you give me the approximate minute marker in my interview with Newt in which he told what you call a "bald-faced lie?" I'd like to check up on it. (And, odd though it may seem, I can remember my interviews. I console myself that Bill Buckley once told me that, in 33 years of recording "Firing Line," he couldn't remember a single interview, either.)
The topic starts at 26 minutes, the lie 30 seconds later. I commented comparing Santorum's somewhat dishonest take on the issue, which Santorum took care to qualify, with Newt's decision to remove the qualifiers. It reminded me strongly why I'm glad that Santorum is becoming the ABR. So much more discipline, so much more decency.
Apr '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Well If I read this right the take home message is that if Romney was a better candidate at selling himself he could win, but currently he is not that man. Neither are Santorum or Gingrich. In other words the O will win if we field either of these three men. I guess we should start preparing ourselves for this loss.
Sep '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Duane Oyen
against a legislature 85% controlled by the Democrats who were advised by ObamaCare’s designer Jonathan Gruber of MIT.
This is untrue. Jonathan Gruber was a Romney Advisor, not an advisor to the Democratic legislature.
Edited on February 21, 2012 at 8:01amSep '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Duane Oyen
So, what’s the problem? It is the way that the Presidency has evolved and what it has become. To conquer the tasks, you need to be an extrovert with a thick hide. Mr. Romney is absolutely not an extrovert, nor is his hide thick enough or his antenna well enough developed at this point.
Let's not blame this on a supposed evolution of the office. Delivering a speech to a crowd and selling the nation to vote for you as a candidate and then lead the nation using the bully pulpit has always been part of the job of POTUS. If Romney can't sell the his own party then how can he sell the nation?
You know, if businessman Romney was in a board room consulting a business and heard the managers of the business complaining about the obtuseness and tin ear of its customers, he'd fire the management and find someone to do a better job marketing.
Might be time find a new marketing campaign.
Edited on February 21, 2012 at 9:27amDec '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
I agree: a President sells himself, his policies, the principles of economic growth, and victory in both elections and in the political process of enacting his policies through selling Congress and the citizenry on them. This has far less to do with managerial skill or business success per se than with the ability to lead, inspire, persuade and motivate. We've had great American leaders who were business failures - Harry Truman was one - and business successes who became poor Presidents - Herbert Hoover was one. So Mitt Romney has a stellar resume, but does he have the ability to lead, inspire, persuade and motivate voters to adopt his ideas and policies as their own? Isn't the first test of that ability winning the GOP nomination? And if he's having such evident difficulty doing that, doesn't that bode poorly for his prospective performance as President?
Oct '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
"Bill Clinton wasn’t any Democrat’s first choice in 1992 either."
Well, he was the first choice of some Democrats. But he wasn’t the nation's first choice, having earned less than 50% of the popular vote. Nor was Bush 41 the first choice of many Republicans, which is why Ross Perot garnered nearly one in five votes nationwide, despite having dropped out of the race, only to return to it later.
Could it be another one of those years?
Here’s the bumper sticker:
“Obama vs. Romney – either way it’s Four More Years.”
(sigh)
Dec '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Duane Oyen
So, what’s the problem? It is the way that the Presidency has evolved and what it has become. To conquer the tasks, you need to be an extrovert with a thick hide. Mr. Romney is absolutely not an extrovert, nor is his hide thick enough or his antenna well enough developed at this point....
But someone needs to go persuade Mitt that he needs to a) act as though he likes this process, and b) learn to actually like it more, even when Bret Baier asks about immigration, OWS whines about the rich, or Jay Carney talks about taxing the rich.
Sorry, I just don't buy it. Romney's problem isn't that he's an introvert. It isn't that he is thin-skinned. It isn't that he's not a good enough actor. And it isn't that he doesn't love campaigning as much as Bill Clinton. His problem is that people don't trust him. They don't think he's reliably conservative. They think he will say anything to win. To put that down to poor presentation is to deny a major credibility problem.
Jul '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
We are overdue for a successful third party bid anyway. With the Parties of Washington offering a (typical) non-choice between ObomneyCare or ObomneyCare, there will never be a better cycle for it.
Oct '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
bill o'reilly predicts both santorum and gingrich will gang up on romney in the next debate.
May '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Main feed! Woohoo! As an avid Duane-o-phile from the early days of Ricochet I can't wait to watch this discussion. Time to grab a Dr. Pepper, limber up those typing fingers and bring it on, Duane!
Dec '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
This is probably the best argument I've read for supporting Romney.To be honest, I am itching, ITCHING, to vote against Obama in November, and at this point, I almost don't care who the GOP nominee is. Every candidate is flawed, and while I don't relish another 4-8 years of defending a president who isn't carrying the water on the front lines again (Bush 43), I am so eager to vote Obama out of office that I'll take Romney even with his flaws as a marketing president. It wasn't the choice I wanted, but honestly, who wants that job anymore? It's thankless. Everyone ends up hating you from all sides no matter what you do. It takes years for people to recognize that what you set in motion works or doesn't. Looking at it at way, I suppose that Romney is a good choice - he is not the advocate for conservatism I hoped for, but he is patient and willing to set things in motion that take years to play out.
Sep '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
We just watched Moneyball again last night and then I wake up and read this post. Mitt is like some can't-miss prospect who is clearly floundering in the big leagues to the point where half the coaches have given up on him and the other half are still lobbying to give him more time.
The guy is just a loser. I don't know what anyone sees in him as a politician. He's had every advantage in the world and he can't win.
Romney is the Adam Dunn of politics.