The Problem With Mitt Romney is Mitt Romney

This morning Ann Romney explained that her husband has been “demonized’ and described as “being heartless.”  The reality is that Mitt is heartless. Regardless of his personal opinion regarding abortion, Mitt Romney interjected himself into the painful decision of a woman and her husband to have an abortion to save her life. Romney suggested that the woman should disregard her obligation to her four living children. Romney suggested that the woman should disregard the approval from a person of higher authority than he in the Mormon church. Romney was “heartless” to add to this traumatic event by not only failing to be sympathetic, but to attack the victim.   If Mitt Romney has been “demonized” he has done it to himself. Every President in recent history has been a millionaire.  In fact the President with the greatest net worth was probably JFK. Yet, he was known as a ‘man of the people.” JFK never tried to pretend that he wasn’t wealthy or that times were ever hard. His wife didn’t rely on one miscarriage and a very mild case of ms to suggest that their lives had been filled with tragedy. However the truth is that what John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline experienced in their personal lives was much more traumatic than anything Ann and Mitt ever thought about. Jacqueline had a miscarriage in 1955, a stillbirth in 1956, and a son who died shortly after birth in 1963.  The Kennedy family was plagued with untimely deaths of many of its members. John’s eldest brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., died in World War II, at the age of 29. John and Robert were assassinated. Edward came close to death in a plane crash and car accident.   Kennedy suffered from chronic and sever back pain. Yet that was never cited as a reason JfK could relate to the average American. It wasn’t until after his death that the American people learned that Kennedy had been diagnosed with Addison’s disease, a rare endocrine disorder. Kennedy also suffered from hypothyroidism, which was never mentioned on the campaign trail.   In spite of his health problems, JFK wanted to serve the country in WWII. To do so he had to hide his physical problems. While he was plagued with physical ailments during the entire time he served, when his PT-109 was run down by a Japanese destroyer, JFK swam six miles holding the belt of a badly burned man named Pappy McNulty, in his teeth, and saved Mcnulty’s life — and then went back into the dark Pacific to try to save others. He lost his boat, but saved most of his crew..  It was that character that made JFK a great leader of America. During his campaign for President, JFK’s wealth was not an issue, and he didn’t try to engender sympathy for himself or his wife, as a result of tragedy they had experienced in their lives. In the Romney campaign it’s as if the Romney wealth is always identified as the reason Mitt isn’t popular. It’s not his wealth to which we object, it is the attitude about his wealth and status to which we take offense. These are just a few examples that illustrate the fact that Mitt is not only wealthy, but that makes him out of touch:

1. During tough times in college Mitt and Ann were both unemployed, but they did have to sell some stock given to them by their parents.

2. Mitt and Ann lived in a basement apartment during their first years in college. They we so strapped for money that they had to take out a loan for their first house, from daddy.

3. They had to pay a babysitter while Ann went to class.

4. Mitt got money from his father every year on his birthday. It wasn’t much, only a few thousand dollars.

5. The Romneys had enough stock to sustain them through Mitt’s college career in earning a 4 year BS, and a 3 year law degree.

6. Mitt’s idea of solving a political debate is to make a $10,000 wager.  

8. In an attempt to relate to the average people who attend NASCAR races, Romney revealed that he knew some NASCAR team owners.

9. Ann Romney has reported that she and Mitt experienced significant risk and uncertainty when Mitt moved from a secure job at Bain & Company to the uncertainty of Bain Capitol. The truth is that founder ov Bain & Company, Bill Bain, treated Romney “as a kind of prince regent at the firm, a favored son.” He selected Romney to start and run Bain Capital. “It would be Romney’s first chance to run his own firm and, potentially, to make a killing.” “It was an offer few young men in a hurry could refuse. Yet Romney stunned his boss by doing just that.” They continue:   He explained to Bain that he didn’t want to risk his position, earnings, and reputation on an experiment. He found the offer appealing but didn’t want to make the decision in a “light or flippant manner.” So Bain sweetened the pot. He guaranteed that if the experiment failed Romney would get his old job and salary back, plus any raises he would have earned during his absence. Still, Romney worried about the impact on his reputation if he proved unable to do the job. Again the pot was sweetened. Bain promised that, if necessary, he would craft a cover story saying that Romney’s return to Bain & Company was needed due to his value as a consultant. “So,” Bain explained, “there was no professional or financial risk.” This time Romney said yes.

10. In attempting to relate to people who work in the auto industry, Mitt explained that Ann drove a ‘couple of Cadillacs.”

11. Even though Ann has been chosen to attract the women’s vote, she refused to talk about birth control.

The problem with Mitt Romney is that he is Mitt Romney. He is heartless. Mitt doesn’t need the media to “demonize’ him, he can do that all by himself.