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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Nov '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Mothership_Greg
I'm with you, but the blame game will be played, I can promise you that. If the conspiracy-theorizing ABRs somehow manage to get Santorum the nomination, we will be blamed if he loses to Obama. Likewise, the know-nothing ABR huggers will be blamed if Romney loses to Obama, because we damaged the candidate or something. I said it before, after watching Newt's ridiculous King of Bain propaganda video, and I'm sure I'll say it again: whatever. · 0 minutes ago
On the other side, of course, the ABRs will blame the Establishment for not backing Santorum wholeheartedly, or for nominating an unelectable moderate (again!).
The best way to solve the problem would be to not lose...
Oct '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Santorum makes women cringe. even conservative ones like janine turner, laura ingraham and that ex-military AZ House candidate.
Dec '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
James Gawron: Here I go again,
MARCO RUBIO IS NOT TOO YOUNG.
Then someday they may recall we were not too young at all.
Regards,
Jim · 3 hours ago
That was my parents' song.
Oct '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Ginni Thomas interviews Andrew Breitbart: What's at stake in 2012. (video)
Dec '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
EThompson
Point well taken, but as a bona fide Romney supporter, I'm shocked and appalled that the Resume doesn't speak for itself. · 29 minutes ago
We are electing a man, not a resume.
Nov '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Duane Oyen
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.
In all the attacks I've seen on Mitt Romney over that conscience exemption issue, I've never seen anyone refute the points David French makes in that link. It really does seem as though he chose to fight the battles which really made the difference, all the way down to the "ridiculously wonkish" level -- not just picking the high-profile fights you would expect from someone simply positioning himself for the Republican nomination.
Nov '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Leigh
The best way to solve the problem would be to not lose... · 5 minutes ago
Indeed, that would be an excellent way to solve many problems. Alas, it will not change some people's propensity to sneer at those they disagree with, but that is a much smaller problem than four more years of Barack Obama.
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.: Duane,
You have done model work in how to defend Romney -- realistic and reasonable. · 50 minutes ago
Ditto, Duane. Admiringly, Peter
Nov '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
So we're back to the electability thing, right?
But, Duane, your concluding paragraph convinces me that Mitt, in his current manifestation, is unelectable, too, . . . unless he learns to fake it better ("act as though he likes this process"). Or unless he can "learn to actually like it more."
Mitt's been running for president nonstop for six years. He's been faking it, about a lot of things, that whole time. After all this time, what's the chance of him suddenly learning to fake it better?
Not good.
Equally not good is the chance Mitt will "learn to actually like it more" because the "it" Mitt doesn't like is not just the campaign process, but more specifically the process of campaigning as a conservative. He can't quite get the feel for faking, ahem, I mean acting, as if he likes campaigning because he can't get comfortable with having to campaign as if he's conservative. That shows.
Romney, this very day, is acting/faking as conservative as he ever will act/fake. In the general, his theme necessarily will be, "Maybe I'm not all that different from Obama, but I'm a better manager."
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
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.
2. What's your evidence that some sort of individual mandate would have been imposed in Massachusetts with or without Romney? That's a critical point, but its been my understanding, based largely on the long New Yorker article, that the initiative for taking on health care came almost entirely from Romney himself. I'd be delighted to learn otherwise.
Edited on February 21, 2012 at 7:46amMay '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Ten cheers for you, Duane. Really well said.
And this past weekend, I'm afraid, shows you were right (and I was wrong) about Santorum. His campaign in the general would be 75% explaining himself or clarifying out-of-context statements. How quickly we managed to flip the narrative of that HHS goof from "we love freedom" to "we hate prenatal testing". Painful.
Romney 2012: It Happens.
Dec '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Point well taken, but as a bona fide Romney supporter, I'm shocked and appalled that the Resume doesn't speak for itself. · 29 minutes ago
We are electing a man, not a resume. · 4 minutes ago
I am trying to elect somebody with a proven track record (i.e. resume) in the private sector community. I'm not the least bit interested in oratorical or political skills; America's economy is too far gone to indulge in those luxuries, indeed! I want to be reassured that the candidate running for leader of the Free Market knows how to make a buck.
Dec '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
EThompson
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Point well taken, but as a bona fide Romney supporter, I'm shocked and appalled that the Resume doesn't speak for itself. · 29 minutes ago
We are electing a man, not a resume. · 4 minutes ago
I am trying to elect somebody with a proven track record (i.e. resume) in the private sector community. I'm not the least bitinterested in oratorical or political skills; America's economy is too far gone to indulge in those luxuries, indeed! I want to be reassured that the candidate running for leader of the Free Market knows how to make a buck. · 0 minutes ago
I'm sorry: what does the President sell?
Dec '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Duane Oyen
I actually don't think that was it, John. The comments were the excuse for the activist base still looking for Reagan to resurrect himself and repeal the 22nd Amendment. 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.
This strikes me as portraying Romney as a victim of circumstance. What, he had no plan to make an appeal to the activist base or the evangelicals? And if his comments gave those groups the excuse they needed, didn't he understand the danger of uttering them? It seems like you're pre-setting the blame meter in case Romney doesn't win the nomination: other people did stuff to him, and he was helpless to do anything about it.
Apparently Mitt Romney wants to join the ranks of the two Johnsons, Chester Arthur, and Gerald Ford as President by default.
Apr '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
I'm sorry: what does the President sell?
Himself.
Dec '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Point well taken, but as a bona fide Romney supporter, I'm shocked and appalled that the Resume doesn't speak for itself. · 29 minutes ago
We are electing a man, not a resume. · 4 minutes ago
I am trying to elect somebody with a proven track record (i.e. resume) in the private sector community. I'm not the least bitinterested in oratorical or political skills; America's economy is too far gone to indulge in those luxuries, indeed! I want to be reassured that the candidate running for leader of the Free Market knows how to make a buck. · 0 minutes ago
I'm sorry: what does the President sell? · 2 minutes ago
Less governmental regulations on business. A sophisticated understanding of the trade deficit. A nuanced eye on the negative ramifications of income tax and yes, a keen insight into the influences of the bond market.
In other words... the crux of the American economy.
Jul '10
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Point well taken, but as a bona fide Romney supporter, I'm shocked and appalled that the Resume doesn't speak for itself. · 29 minutes ago
We are electing a man, not a resume. · 4 minutes ago
I am trying to elect somebody with a proven track record (i.e. resume) in the private sector community. I'm not the least bitinterested in oratorical or political skills; America's economy is too far gone to indulge in those luxuries, indeed! I want to be reassured that the candidate running for leader of the Free Market knows how to make a buck. · 0 minutes ago
I'm sorry: what does the President sell? · 18 minutes ago
Victory.
Nov '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Stuart Creque
EThompson
Point well taken, but as a bona fide Romney supporter, I'm shocked and appalled that the Resume doesn't speak for itself. · 29 minutes ago
We are electing a man, not a resume. · 4 minutes ago
I am trying to elect somebody with a proven track record (i.e. resume) in the private sector community. I'm not the least bitinterested in oratorical or political skills; America's economy is too far gone to indulge in those luxuries, indeed! I want to be reassured that the candidate running for leader of the Free Market knows how to make a buck. · 0 minutes ago
I'm sorry: what does the President sell? · 20 minutes ago
Birth control pills. Oh, no, he gives those away for free.
Jan '12
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
John Marzan
the ABR movement gets too much credit for Romney's recent troubles, but Mitt needs to look at himself in the mirror and admit that he fumbled the ball and his florida bounce with his non-conservative view on minimum wage (this was the bigger blunder compared to his out of context "poor" comment).
...
Romney should be prepared to explain his minimum wage comment. ... · 47 minutes ago
Indeed, I was looking for Mr. Oyen to acknowledge this unforced error and to contrast it with his lavish estimation of Romney's "excellent" performance in impossible situations.
Dec '11
Re: The Problem With Romney - But...
Pass it along!