Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The last one worked pretty well

Mitt Romney gets my endorsement for John McCain's running mate. I write this at a time of course, when the likelihood of this pick is soaring. Romney does benefit from a lack of deep bench to choose from. However, he emerges as the cream of the crop on merit.

Since McCain's nomination, voters pick the Economy as their top voting issue leaving the War in Iraq in lesser consideration. The Great Man has never been too interested in the economy, in fact he was just recently going around telling people he does not know a whole lot about it. Mitt Romney is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the economy. Before his political career he was CEO at BAIN Capitol also working for many other companies. He developed a reputation as a turnaround artist.

Romney's corporate experience have also made him an expert on management. I admit that managing a company involves orders being given and not resisted whereas government is the opposite. I think in any event, the former Massachusetts Governor is second to none in getting results. He knows how to set deadlines and check progress, how formal meetings should be conducted, how accessible to stay, and generally the correct management style to achieve competence and results. There would be no better manager of Government than Mitt Romney.

Romney's pick is smart politically. His name helps in the key state of Michigan. His father George Romney was the legendary Michigan politician. Romney helps in the west given the high population of Mormons who apparently practice identity politics. That may be a little Realpolitik for me but this means swing states like Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Mitt Romney has shined as a surrogate for McCain, burying the hatchet while landing effective blows against Obama. He is well-spoken, smart and has a good chance of winning the Vice-Presidential debate.

What Romney should do should he get the pick is relaunch his political brand. His Presidential run was an attempt to get to the right of everyone else, with unconvincing explanations for his flip-flops. What he should do is concede that he has some differences with conservatives. He should run as a technocrat who is going to bring back competence and manage government well under a McCain Administration. And while he's at it, talk about trade, balanced budgets and reforming entitlements. He does all of that extremely well. We saw flashes of this type of candidacy in Michigan where he did it well and tirelessly to finish ahead of John McCain.

A McCain-Romney ticket would allow McCain to talk about Foreign Policy and Romney to talk about the Economy. They both have a strong suit which would mean allow for a good one-two punch. The ticket that was once impossible is now looking like a great pick.

1 Comments:

At 4:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, but Romney on the ticket will make me stay home. I was a Huckabee supporter mostly because of his very precient take on the economy and the Fair Tax. I am no "values voter".

If Republicans want to maintain their exclusive "prep boy" image--which will sink them in November--they will go with Romney. Otherwise Kay Bailey Hutchison or Christine Whitman ought to be sharing the ticket with McCain.

 

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