Mitt Romney planned to run for president as a successful businessman who would bring some hard-headed business common sense and smarts to the job of running the badly dysfunctional federal government.
Like Sen. John Kerry in 2004, Romney must now be puzzled about how what he thought was his strongest asset (in Kerry’s case, his honorable service in the Vietnam War; in Romney’s, his successful career at Bain Capital) could have molted into a liability. The answer is in part skilled demagoguery from the other side (yes, I mean you, Mr. President) and in part deserved punishment for overplaying your hand (military experience in Kerry’s case, transferable business skills in Romney’s).
If he can’t run exclusively as a business genius, Romney will have another problem that otherwise might have gone away: People just don’t like him. If he was going to restore the economy and America’s place in the world, they wouldn’t care. If he can’t guarantee delivery, his apparent inability to connect with people on an emotional level becomes much more important.
People close to Romney swear that he’s both a good person and a great guy, and that ought to be easy enough to believe. So what’s his problem? Is he too handsome? Does he look too much like a president ever to be elected president? Has he spent too many years in the high-finance cocoon to know how to talk with people outside it? I don’t know. Whatever the cause, I have the solution. Romney had it in his hands, and threw it away.
In 2007, trying to clear away the underbrush for his 2008 presidential bid, Romney gave a closely watched speech he called “Faith in America,” about being a Mormon and running for president. He consciously followed the lead of John F. Kennedy in his famous 1960 speech to the ministers of Houston about being a Catholic aspiring to the highest office.
Like Kennedy, Romney argued that politics and religion were separate spheres. He pledged to be president of all the people, not just his co-religionists. He said, with Kennedy, that if an irreconcilable conflict arose between his core religious beliefs and his obligations as president, he would resign before betraying either. And he said that for a presidential candidate to go into any details about his faith - to “describe and explain his church’s distinctive doctrines” to the press and public - would violate the spirit of the constitutional separation of church and state. In other words: My Mormonism is private, and has no relevance to the presidential campaign or the presidency.
That may have been good enough for 1960, but not for 2012, when the deepest reaches of any candidate’s psyche are considered fair game for commentary and analysis. Mormons believe some pretty wacky things (as do other Christians, Jews and Muslims - but they have different odd beliefs, ones that have been pre-approved). Furthermore, Romney is a much more devout Mormon than Kennedy was a Catholic.
The important point is that Romney may be a fool even to want to bottle up his faith and pack it away for the duration, because it could be the best thing about him. It certainly humanizes him - which he needs. This occurred to me while reading Walter Kirn’s wonderful essay in the current New Republic about growing up Mormon.
Even though he has long since left the church, and never came close to observing all its precepts, Kirn admires Mormonism as “our country’s longest experiment with communitarian idealism, promoting an ethic of frontier-era burden-sharing that has been lost in contemporary America, with increasingly dire social consequences.” Kirn offers several dramatic examples of extraordinary kindnesses the Mormon church and its members have done, in the spirit of community, for his own family and himself.
The article certainly opened my eyes, and Romney is not just a member but a leader of this organization. Romney shouldn’t be pushing his Mormonism into a corner and hoping people will forget about it. He should be making it a central part of his campaign. It’s far and away the best thing I know about him.
At the moment, all that most people know about Romney the man is that once in high school he led a gang that bullied a gay student, and that his wife has multiple sclerosis. And they’re turned off by his apparent lack of any inner life. But maybe he does have an inner life after all. Why in the world would he try to hide it?
Michael Kinsley is a Bloomberg View columnist.
Comments (37)
Add commentInteresting point about the communitarianism of the Mormons...
...their members take care of each other without government help. That's definitely praiseworthy in my book.
I think many voters are wary
I think many voters are wary of him because of his definition of "success".
It would seem that his definition of success is to walk away from a looted company with as much cash as possible and take that money out of the US economy by sticking it in foreign tax shelters.
Whether the company is able to survive the debt he left it with in order to walk away with the cash doesn't seem to figure into whether he was "successful" or not. The American workers didn't matter. The US economy didn't matter.
The ONLY thing that mattered was how much cash could he extract out of the company and if he had to use it's assets as collateral to borrow money that could never be paid back so what? As long as he got the cash he was "successful".
In a way he acted like a walking talking corporation with one purpose and one purpose only; PROFIT for Bain Capital.
Pure bunkum, Fish...
...Bain Capital only liquidated companies that could not be saved. They saved many companies from certain failure by helping them turnaround. And from now on, I request that anyone that make these sorts of wild accusations provide some factual support instead of just saying them like they are true. I want to know names of companies you are referring to and what YOU think happened.
Perhaps muehly,
you could explain how loading a company upfront with longterm debt, extracting management fees and short term profits, demanding workers take wage cuts (while you're pocketing millions), then 'bailing' when the longterm debt is too much to handle... make that 'baining'... does anything other than make a few people rich.
I'll be back to give names of companies. Got things I need to do today.
Sounds like you might have to do
that research, Meuhl. Seems those two guys there aren't jumping to help you out. Don't you hate that when that happens?
I've already done my research...
...that's why I know they are full of it. Again, I request actual cases from you folks. If you can't provide them, I think we can all conclude you are simply trying to create a narrative without support. Sorry, but I insist on links and specifics, because I refuse to refute phantom accusations.
If business experience and acumen
are Romney's greatest assets, then show us the facts. We would all like to see how he did it. Show us the tax returns.
And the fact that he would resign if a conflict arose between his religion and his position as president, would mean he would not last too long. Nor would many people under that premise. I am sure we can all think of those issues, too.
Let me get this straight...
...you think Romney is hiding his tax return because he really isn't really as successful a businessman as everyone thinks? That's a new one...
The facts speak for themselves. When Romney left Bain Capital at the end of the 90's it was one of the top private equity firms in the nation, the number of partners had grown from 5 to 18 (with 115 employees), and they had $4 billion under management. If that's not business success, I don't know what is.
But while we're at it, can you show me some examples of Obama's great business acumen?
Oh, and I can't think of any circumstances where Romney would...
...have to leave the Presidency because his official duties conflicted with his faith. Not one.
Shouldn't the person who takes the risk reap rewards of success?
Why are people blindly following unsuccessful government money wasters and are opposed to private free enterprise successful people who have saved and possibly created thousands of jobs?
I don't recall Obama's "faith in ( ?)" Speech Pledge ...
While I am not an a big fan of Mormon theology. I am glad that Romney like Kennedy recognizes a possible conflict that might exist in their spirituality and the oath of office of the President.
What do we know about Obama's spirituality or lack of it (does he still do illegal drugs)? I am calling on the Obamster to give us his "faith in (?)" speech. Maybe he could pledge that his faith as taught by Rev. Wright (anti American liberation theology) or his childhood mentoring by the Muslim school in Indonesia will not effect how he governs, if he is elected to a second term.
Hmm, now I am curious.
What are the "wacky things" Mormans believe?
Would he hire women for his cabinet? Did he hire women in Massachusetts? Did he appoint women to the judiciary in Massachusetts? What were the highest offices women were hired for by him as governor?
Why don't you find out, southie...
...I will note that he seems to have a rather high opinion of his wife, and last time I checked she was a woman.
Wife: true
Did she have an education and career? I will google that.
BA in French from Brigham Young.
He did have a decent record in Massachusetts, but his denials and refusal to support that record today is troubling.
Which denials are you talking about?
You're going to have to be more specific because I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
Not very civil, ladies.
Stay on topic. And drinking isn't the topic.
Romney's Bain Privatized Gains, Socialized Losses-- Bloomberg
Interesting isn't it muehlbau, that Michael Kinsey-- author of the article-- suggests that Romney ought to concentrate on religion since his financial manipulations don't translate well into running a country. Indeed, a recent Rasmussen poll supports that opinion as 41% of respondents indicated they would be less likely to vote for Romney on the basis of his business dealings.
As indicated earlier, Bain Capital which Romney was CEO and sole owner of, acquired companies forcing them to take on ridiculous amounts of debt to continue paying dividends (which Bain profited nicely from), as well as exhorbitant management fees. In his 2009 book The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Is Destroying Jobs and Killing the American Economy, Josh Kosman described Bain Capital as "notorious for its failure to plow profits back into its businesses."
Over time, the companies could not generate enough revenue to pay off the debt and went bankrupt with creditors losing the amounts of their loans and workers their jobs. Bain assumed little risk (are you listening Jingleberry?) because as shareholders, they were not liable for the debt assumed. In other cases Bain was able to sell-off the company before it went bankrupt. Here are a couple of examples provided by Bloomberg News. The article has links to others.
"There are many other examples of this debt-fueled strategy. In the two years following the acquisition in 1993 of GS Industries, a steel mill, for $8 million, Bain Capital increased the company’s debt to $378 million on operating income of less than a 10th of that amount. Some of this was used to pay Bain Capital a $36 million dividend in 1994. That degree of leverage was excessive in light of the cyclicality and capital-intensive nature of the steel industry.
By the time the company went bankrupt in 2001, it owed $554 million in debt against assets valued at $395 million. Many creditors lost money, and 750 workers lost their jobs. The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures company retirement plans, determined in 2002 that GS had underfunded its pension by $44 million and had to step in to cover the shortfall.
Bain Capital’s acquisition of Stage Stores, a department- store chain, in 1988 was 96 percent financed by debt (mostly in junk bonds) — an extreme level for a cyclical and very competitive low-margin business. Bain sold a large part of its stake in 1997 for a $184 million gain, three years before the company filed for bankruptcy because of its inability to service its $600 million debt."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-15/romney-s-bain-yielded-private-g...
And then there's the whole question of Bain's investing in businesses that specialized in helping other businesses off-shore jobs.....
Denials and flip flops:
Pro choice, then against choice
Pro women, then against equal pay for them
Pro individual mandate, then against it
Pro giving McCain all his tax returns, then, "you've got all you're going to get."
Flip Flopper...Naw...
Secular Humanist should have to Declare their Wacko Beliefs
Why is it that only people with "faith in God " get called into question about their beliefs but lunatics without belief in God don't? Talking about those with a wacko belief system. I can hardly tolerate their hypocrisy. I think it is clear that history is replete with humanist trying socialism caused insurmountable human damage and suffering. Mao Tse Tung, Lenin, Stalin and Hitler to name just a few.
It is important that we learn about what both candidates believe. We would have learned more about what Obama's beliefs had the mainstream media not been pushing his incompetent arse across the finish line. So what exactly does Obama believe? So far only one thing seems clear he has contempt for free enterprise America. Is this rooted in a religious belief? I don't know.
That 4th sentence there is confusing.
Starts: "I think it is clear..."
Then more mumbo jumbo.
Like I said Romney embodies
Like I said Romney embodies the republican definition of "SUCCESS".
Risk other peoples money, loot the company into bankruptcy throwing thousands of Americans out of work, funnel the money out of the country into off shore bank accounts and foreign investments thus taking the money out of our economy.
He's a republican through and through and down to their core the cons admire his SUCCESS.
No matter what religion the republicans try to claim their one and only true God is wealth and they will do just about anything necessary to hoard it. They are working hard to bring corporate fascism to America and this election is probably the one that's going to do it and return us to the days of the robber barons.
Like I said,
just change the name every 4 years and copy and paste fishhead's comment it will be the same rant.
Fnb...
You get a "flag for review" for that remark.
Wow
a lefty calls a presidential candidate a mutt and you stick up for her/him?
You are acting like a very sick person southie. I guess I'll look back at your posts and flag a few for "review"
Good luck!
Calling anyone names is counter productive.
There,
I fixed it just for you. I changed it to express dissatifaction with his/her behavior instead of a personal attack. Now if you would just quit exibiting some of the same behavior a lot of people would be happy. Have a very nice evening and please don't spend it talking down and nasty at people that don't agree with your political agenda.
That's better.
Improves the discourse.
Opps! Obama Jobs Council 6 Months Lapse
Interesting, He had time for 100 fundraisers and endless rounds of golf, but didn't have time to meet for the most important thing he says he is about, JOBS! Michael Kinsley is insulting as he looks so scrutinize and discredit Romney when the person he should be really looking at is Obummer.
Flip Flop Mittster , Even gave opinion polls to LDS leaders
To justify the vulture capitialists 6 or 7 different times he flip flopped on abortion. Therefore the incident " statement" Mitt made about having "illegal aliens" doing his yard work ( for heavens sake dont you realize In running for president) does reflect the REAL Mitt. He keeps trying to protect a pathetic image depending on if he is running for Senate ,Gov. or POTUS. Giving his church an opinion poll to justify his ever changing positions is really over the top.
Come on Mitt show us your tax returns so we can ALL see what a great americans income tax returns look like....You must be hiding something !!!