Well the candidates have dwindled down to the point where there is really only one choice left for the GOP. Mitt Romney has the nomination in the bag, so to speak. Unless there is some major surprise in the works, he will be running against Obama. Mitt Romney has a problem though. Nobody seems to like him very much. There are several reasons that people have suggested but it comes down to a big three.
Romney’s first mistake was to set himself against the people as early as the Iowa Caucus. There, during a speech for a crowd of onlookers he made the infamous statement that “Corporations are people, my friend.” This statement symbolizes one of his largest failings as a presidential candidate. He lacks the connection to the people that he is so desperately trying to establish.
You see Romney is rich, filthy rich, and while he may wish that he could understand and connect with the middle class and the majority of people in America, he just doesn’t have any experience of what it’s like to be a regular guy. Romney could have said something different. Personally I might have said, “Not according to the Supreme Court.” This might have deflected the displeasure that most people feel about that ruling back at those who are responsible for it. Unfortunately his statement says that he agrees with the sentiment, which brands him very quickly with the companies versus the people problem.
He also makes many mistakes in his speeches where he, again, tries desperately to relate to the regular guy. “I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillac’s actually…” Does he honestly believe that most Americans own 4 vehicles? That we all have two Luxury cars, a sports car, and a truck too? It clearly illustrates that he has no clue at all about the struggles of the middle class or the poor.
His second major problem is that he’s just filthy rich. Yes, I said that before, but this is a different problem that has the same cause. He owns companies, he has run companies, and he has done the things that people don’t like. He fires people, he sends jobs overseas, he sells companies, and he closes them down.
He gets branded with all the disgruntled anger of each and every one of us who has lost a job to a foreign worker. Every manufacturing plant shut down from Danville, VA, to Detroit, MI because Chinese manufacturing is cheaper. Whole towns destroyed when the major manufacturer that built it decades ago decides to move wholesale to another country because American labor is too costly compared to the costs of importing the goods made in India.
He knows that his money is a problem too, because he’s trying to hide it. His refusal to disclose tax documents and other financials leaves most people with uneasy feelings of distrust. Nobody knows why he’s hiding it either, he won’t even comment on it. The lack of explanation leaves everyone wondering; what exactly is he hiding? This is not good for him either; it makes him look shady, like a cheat and a liar.
My advice for Romney is the exact opposite of what he’s doing now. Don’t hide it, own it. Go on record saying, “Yes, I’m rich and I want to make America rich. I want to make the middle class wealthy again. Every middle class family should have four cars and a big house. I want to bring the jobs and the money back to this country. We need our manufacturing jobs back; we need educated workers for the skilled jobs that are being given to immigrants. I want to keep our country the economic leader it should always be.” But he won’t. He won’t because he can’t risk offending his corporate sponsors. He can’t risk suggesting that anyone might change NAFTA. Corporations, who are people, might not like that idea.
Lastly, and most certainly not the least of his problems is his manner. He is a great politician, and a terrible politician. One minute he’s reversing his stance on an issue to please a particular crowd, and getting called out for it later on CNN, the next minute he’s offending an entire country by saying they aren’t ready. Recently he was even caught putting words in the mouth of the Australian Prime Minister that he did not say. When the Prime Minister heard what he had been quoted as saying he immediately released a statement saying he had said nearly the opposite of what Romney had claimed.
Romney is asking to be the President of the United States of America. He wants the most powerful position with the most responsibility on the planet. Romney can’t even seem to keep his own agenda straight and he wants us to trust him to run a country? I don’t think he’s going to make it.
Here are my predictions for the upcoming debates and the following election. Romney is going to continue alienating the general public, possibly several other countries as well. Romney will make several statements during the debates that will continue to alienate Latinos, African Americans, and other minorities. He will then continue his trend of changing his stance on every major issue he is questioned about from one debate to the next. As this circus continues the press is going to have a field day with him and he will go silently into the list of people who ran for president and didn’t make it.
Obama has better polls with all minorities, he has a better, clearer, and more defined message, he is a better speaker and debater, he has a connection to the people, and Obama has demonstrated a policy of openness and disclosure for over four years.
Obama is going to win, mark my words, this election is over already.
Sources:
Speech Cadillac
Australian Prime Minister
Corporations are People
