It Should Be Enough

Like everything else in life, blogging has its advantages and disadvantages. I've met some truly wonderful people - both virtually and in person - as a result of blogging. I've also been exposed to a mind-boggling variety of insights, thoughts, and opinions: some eye opening, some disturbing, and some just downright weird.

On the downside, one of the things I've noticed is that we all tend to follow other bloggers that think along the same lines we do. That can result in a sort of self-perpetuating mindset. For example, I fall somewhere on the conservative-libertarian continuum, so I tend to read blogs that reflect a similar philosophy. I have little patience for the typical liberal bloggers emotional prattle, so I tend to ignore posts that are long on emotion and short on logic. While that may be gratifying, it also can result in a form of group-think.

This came to mind as I read a recent Peggy Noonan op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal. She questions the conventional wisdom that has the Republican establishment cramming Mitt Romney down the throats of the conservative/tea party factions. If you read the same blogs I do, you've often run across this line of thinking. However, Ms. Noonan points out two things. First, there no longer is a Republican establishment, at least in the traditional sense.

That establishment is not what it was decades ago, when it was peopled by seasoned veterans who made decisions and got people in line. That's gone. What has replaced it is a loose confederation of groups and professionals—current and former elected officials and their staffs, activists, the old party machinery, bundlers and contributors, journalists, radio and TV stars, mostly but not exclusively based in Washington.

Second, Mitt is not the candidate of choice among what passes for today's 'establishment.'

The great myth of the election year is that they (the establishment) are for Mitt Romney. They are not. They are almost all against Newt Gingrich because they know him, they've worked with him. But they mostly do not love Mr. Romney.

Why doesn't the establishment like Mr. Romney? Because they fear he won't win, that he'll get clobbered on such issues as Bain, wealth, taxes. Because when they listen to him, they get the impression he's reciting lines his aides came up with in debate prep. Because if he wins, they're not sure he'll have a meaning or mandate.

But mostly because his insides are unknown to them. They don't know what's in there. They fear he hasn't absorbed any philosophy along the way, that he'll be herky-jerky, unanchored, merely tactical as president. And they think that now of all times more is needed. They want to reform the tax system and begin reining in the entitlement spending that is bankrupting us. They don't read him as the guy who can perform those two Herculean jobs, each of which will demand first-rate political talent. And shrewdness. And guts.

I'm not by any stretch of the imagination a member of the republican establishment - hell, I'm not even sure I'm a republican - but I don't totally disagree with that. Romney is not a Washington insider. He had a successful business career with firms based in Massachusetts. He challenged the drunken murderer incumbent senator from that state - Ted Kennedy - in 1994, and lost. He took over as president and CEO of the troubled 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics games, taking it from a $400 million deficit to a $100 million profit. Riding that wave of success he was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002. That was followed by a failed presidential bid in 2008. Note that very little of that background involves D.C. and the so-called political establishment.

Mitt has certain core values that I admire, but they are related more to his family and faith than to his political philosophy. As president, he will bend to the prevailing winds, which may not be a bad thing, if there are strong and principled leaders in congress - not a sure thing. But he is not a strong leader at a time that cries out for one. And he certainly has issues in his past that he must address. Goodness knows the mainstream liberal media will pick them to pieces.

So Romney is in a tough spot. He has to capture the hearts and minds of conservatives. He also needs to appeal to moderates. At the same time he has to convince whatever remains of the GOP establishment to open their wallets and support him.

My personal position is that he's not the ideal candidate. He has image problems, and he has legitimate faults. But for all that he has one huge advantage.

He's not obama...