The Chronicle published my letter under their (not my) headline "GOP must nominate real person to win presidency" where I offered unsolicited political advice on how an opposition party has to define itself and nominate someone who can take on the destructive Democratic juggernaut. That was before my blogging, so I thought I'd republish the letter, in full, here:
Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 12:15 am
There are plenty of Romney “campaign failure” post
mortems. But I think Romney did about as well as he could. The problem was the
person and his experience.
This election was about the economy. But Romney
never labored, operated a business or was an entrepreneur; he was a financier
with drive-by exposure to working, operating and entrepreneurial guys. Romney’s
resume helped him grasp the value of capitalism but not so much the power of
free markets and the value creating-proposition of economic process.
In contrast, Ronald Reagan learned economic lessons
from working independently as an actor, years of touring the country to speak
with legions of ordinary people, and pull-himself-up-by-the-bootstraps life
experience. He learned what doesn't work as a union activist and president of
the actors’ guild. Reagan knew that individuals, not big government and big
labor, are the driving force behind the U.S. economy. The great communicator
spoke of economic issues in personal terms that connected with people.
Listening to Romney on economics was like
eavesdropping on a conversation among options traders about puts or calls –
strange and off putting. Romney wasn’t prepared to communicate with ordinary
people.
Republicans, get smart. Nominate someone who is
neither MBA nor lawyer (or is not defined by that education). Choose someone
who led a real life – a nominee who can speak sincerely and confidently on how
nanny-state government gets in the way while free market economic processes
work. Messages delivered from a candidate’s heart on the debilitating impacts
of dependency and debt, and in favor of the real economy over the hollowness of
the monetary establishment (ala Ron Paul), are messages that resonate. This
candidate believes in the people. Then you might have a chance, and if you won,
would actually make a difference.
Grady Foster
Bozeman
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