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| (Photo courtesy of Bain Capital via The Boston Globe). |
Despite the pressures at Bain Capital, Mitt Romney kept the atmosphere
loose. One year, after posing for a photo for a firm brochure, the
partners did another take, the second time holding $10 and $20 bills.
From left, Fraser Bullock, Eric A. Kriss, Joshua Bekenstein, Mitt
Romney, Coleman Andrews, Geoffrey S. Rehnert, and Robert F. White.
Sophie: You can get a taste of things to come by reading the comments here.
The Washington establishment, ever a font of wisdom, has chosen its candidate. Mitt Romney’s
victory in the Republican primaries, the insiders say, is a fait
accompli. They claim he’s the most electable, the safe bet. Fine; let’s
play along for the moment and consider what the Democrats have in store
for him in the general election.
Recall that before Barack Obama trounced John McCain in 2008, Mr. McCain trounced Mr. Romney. But that’s not the worst of it. Mr. Romney’s
Massachusetts electoral record hardly inspires confidence. He was
elected initially in 2002 but couldn’t crack 50 percent of the popular
vote. By the end of his first and only term, he had an anemic 34 percent
approval rating and a 65 percent disapproval rating. Survey USA ranked Mr. Romney’s popularity 48th out of the 50 governors. With that, the supposedly electable Mitt Romney walked away rather than face the voters.
Can someone please explain why we should believe he’s suddenly so darn electable now?
The juggernaut of the Romney electability myth has been centered around polls showing that he leads President Obama
in a theoretical head-to-head matchup. Of course, polls taken a year
before an election are dubious at best - just ask Presidents Michael Dukakis, Rudolph W. Giuliani or Fred Thompson. But even those polls are betraying the Romney myth. The latest Rasmussen head-to-head polling shows Newt Gingrich ahead of Mr. Obama by two points and Mr. Romney trailing by six.
Consider how the Democrats will campaign against Mr. Romney. At the core of Mr. Obama’s
failed presidency are the two intertwined, evil strands of DNA,
Obamacare and Obamanomics, and with them the era of failed bailouts,
high unemployment, government takeovers, crony payoffs and a downgraded
America. Luckily for Mr. Obama, his two chief vulnerabilities - Obamacare and jobs - are the very ones most easily neutralized should he face Mr. Romney.
Obamneycare: Mr. Romney’s
Massachusetts Romneycare is the forebear of Obamacare. Both are
premised on the notion that the governing class may force its subjects
into government-knows-best health-insurance servitude. Mr. Romney
will continue in vain to deny the similarities between Obamacare and
Romneycare, but there isn’t enough hair gel in the world to straighten
that hairdo. Every minute spent trying is a lost minute.
Jobs: Mr. Romney, founding partner of Bain Capital,
acknowledges laying off workers but has claimed that his business
ventures have, on net, created jobs. I believe him. I also appreciate
the economic benefit of “creative destruction.” But this matters little
in campaigns. Perception becomes political reality. Mr. Obama’s counter for his own abysmal jobs record - 2 million lost - will be to showcase every person who was ever laid off by Mr. Romney. Recall the dagger in the heart of Mr. Romney’s
2008 campaign, Mike Huckabee’s simple statement, “I want to be a
president who reminds you of the guy you work with, not the guy who laid
you off.”
Furthermore, Mr. Romney, still unable to reach beyond 25 percent in GOP
polls, may have hit his high-water mark. Consider how the selectively
quiet mainstream media waged war on the conservative challengers, one by
one, just as they began to pose threats to Mr. Romney, yet they have found little time for exposes on Romneycare or Bain Capital
or - brace yourself - racism in the Mormon Church. Don’t worry, they
will. Meanwhile, conservatives should ask themselves why they’re holding
back now.
Even Mr. Romney’s supporters admit this. Washington icon Ann Coulter
has curiously joined league with ultraliberal Obamaphiles Bill Maher
and Warren Buffett, as well as the one-woman brain trust, Meghan McCain,
to support Mr. Romney in the primaries. Miss Coulter claims the mainstream media are “terrified” of a Romney GOP nomination. Destroying her own argument, she predicts there will be an “explosion” of anti-Romney news stories that “have already been written, but they’re not scheduled for release until the day Romney wraps up the nomination.”
Miss Coulter doesn’t explain what motivates the media to shield the Romney campaign during the primaries. The answer is obvious:
Mitt Romney is the media’s rope-a-dope re-election strategy for Barack Obama. They hope we’ll bite.
The media will turn on Mr. Romney faster and with greater vengeance than they did Mr. McCain in 2008, and when they do, his poll numbers - unlike those of his GOP rivals who already have faced their firestorms - will crater like Mr. McCain’s did. I would guess they’re already hunting down every family with a grievance against Bain Capital for breathless “How Mitt Romney destroyed our family” news stories. Unfair? Absolutely. Damaging? You decide.
If you still don’t believe the Obama-friendly media are hoping Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination, Google “Mitt Romney
money picture” and ask yourself why the media are - for now - holding
back this unseemly photo. It shows the former Massachusetts governor
beside his former business partners with cash pouring out of their
pockets, lapels, shirt collars and even a few body orifices. Even
unapologetic champions of the free market cringe with anticipation of
the bonanza that photo provides for Team Obama, which already loves to
blame the weak economy on “fat-cat” bankers. This photo will be Exhibit
A.
The Washington establishment expects conservatives to fall in line and accept the unproven, if not mythical, dogma that Mitt Romney
is the most electable Republican candidate. Why? Because it says so.
However, the establishment’s track record of picking winners in the GOP primary is abysmal. Instead, Mr. Romney’s candidacy should be evaluated on its own merits, not on some insider, illusory promise of electability, particularly when Mr. Obama’s supporters are hopeful we take the bait.
Dr. Milton R. Wolf, a Washington Times columnist, is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist and President Obama’s cousin. He blogs at miltonwolf.com.
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Let's review:
1. Before Barack Obama trounced John McCain in 2008, McCain
trounced Romney.
2. Romney couldn't crack 50% when elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002.
3. By the end of his first and only term, he had a 34% approval rating and a 65% disapproval rating.
4. Survey USA ranked
Mr. Romney’s popularity 48th out of the 50 governors.
5. The
supposedly electable Mitt Romney walked away rather than face the
voters - even though he had just signed the - supposedly - wildly popular and successful MassCare legislation with its mandate into law in April of that year.
6. During his time as governor, Massachusetts ranked 47th in job creation in the private sector.
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