At the end of an otherwise good performance at the Republican debate in Arizona this week, Mitt Romney used the final question of the night to showcase how bad a politician and how flawed a Presidential candidate he is.
The moderator addressed the following question to all four candiates: "What is the biggest misconception about you in the public debate right now?"
Ron Paul replied first, answering the question directly by saying that the misconception about him is that he can't win, while also using the platform as an opportunity to deliver a closing statement. Newt Gingrich answered the question more obliquely, giving a closing statement but framing around what "I wish the American people could know about me." And then it was Romney's turn.
Completely ignoring the question that was asked, Mitt launched into his stump speech. The moderator cut him off, asking Romney again to address the misconception question.
"You know, you get to ask the questions you want, and I get to give the answers I want," Romney told the moderator. "Fair enough?"
Romney then continued with his stump speech (you can see video of Romeny's response below).
Besides the arrogance that Romney showed in talking down to the moderator, the response highlights Romney's major flaws as a politician and a candidate.
Politicians rarely answer the questions that media ask of them -- they frame their reply in a rephrasing of the question, and then they deliver the message they really want to deliver. It's not that hard. Paul, Gingrich and Rick Santorum all had no problems answering the question and delivering a closing statement at the same time. The ability to stay on message without coming off as arrogant or oblivious (or both) is a political skill that Mitt Romney should have mastered long ago, if wants to be President of the United States.
But perhaps, in this instance, Romney dodged the question because it is actually a very difficult one for him to answer -- which reveals an even greater flaw.
The question should have given Romney the opportunity to say something like this: "Liberals try to hold it against me that I've been successful in business, but I believe in an America where people can pursue and acheive their goals. A misconception about me is that, because I've been successful in business, my opponents say that I can't connect with the American people. This is not true. I understand that many Americans are suffering under Barack Obama's failed economic policies, and here's what I plan to do to turn those things around so more Americans can prosper once again..."
Makes sense, right? But the problem is, Mitt Romney can't talk about how he relates to the American people, how he understands their struggles. Because everyone, Republican or Democrats, knows it's not true.
JFK was very wealthy. So was FDR. So was Teddy Roosevelt. George Washington may have been richest of them all.
But, as Kearns Goodwin points, out, "each one of those men had something in their lives that allowed them to connect to ordinary people.
"Teddy Roosevelt had gone to the West as a cowboy after his wife and mother died on the same day, he was in the Rough Riders. FDR had polio, which took him out of that privileged life and allowed him to connect to ordinary people. JFK had been to World War II. The problem for Romney is maybe he's had those experiences, but they certainly don't show up when he says 'I want to make a $10,000 bet' or 'Oh, I made $324,000 in speaking fees, that was small change' or 'I've had a pink slip,' or 'I like firing people.'
"That shows that somehow his life experience hasn't connect him empathetically. We don't care if people are wealthy, what matters is can they understand our problems and can they empathize with us?"
Clearly, Mitt Romney cannot. And that's a problem in Romney's candidacy that won't go away, no matter how much political coaching he gets.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment!