Mitt Romney

In response to a question from my friend Darin about what I like about Mitt Romney, this is what I wrote:


Well, the fact that he's LDS means that I trust him to some degree (and I like the publicity for the church); and the fact that he's a politician means that I don't trust him to some degree. :)

Mitt Romney has a track record of business success. Extraordinary success. And then again with the Olympics. I think that shows that he can manage and organization and get jobs done right. He also is good with money, which is great.

His business career sets him apart from people who have spent their lives in politics, which to a large extent is all talk. Rudy and Fred have backgrounds related to law, which is interesting. That would come in handy. But I view the successful business background as a more important credential. Also, Mitt has shown that he can do politics very well too, successfully getting work done in a democratic state.

Aside from his particular religion, the amount of service that he's given in the church is quite respectable. I think he's served as Bishop and Stake President for 12 years or so. That is such a large time commitment (~20 hours per week) for absolutely no monetary compensation. During that time he's worked closely with individuals and families, counseling and praying for/with them, so he should have a better understanding of the daily struggles of life (Wasn't Huckabee a pastor? If so that's also great). This isn't mentioned much because it brings to everyone's attention that he's LDS. What a shame. If nothing else this should at least be viewed as 12 years of volunteering countless hours as a social worker.

Mitt Romney has a better marriage and family record in his personal life than the other top candidates. Unfortunately I don't know Huckabee very well, so I won't include him in this generalization. I think I might like Huckabee, but I haven't paid enough attention to him because he's generally viewed as having a low chance of winning. Rudy and John McCain are not respectable in this regard in my opinion. Fred is okay as far as I know: Divorce but no affair.

So that's about it. I haven't even mentioned anything about policy. They all sound pretty convincing really, and I think that's mostly meaningless talk at this point unless I strongly disagree with them on an issue. I can accept most of what Mitt says, including his approach for strengthening the US through families, economy, and military. Lately he's expanded on the family strengthening part to specify removing the flaws in the welfare system that disincentivize marriage, making father's more responsible for their children even if they are unmarried, and making adoption information more widely available. He also is in favor of allowing the law to continue to give families special treatment, and so am I (that's what I think is really at stake with this whole definition of marriage controversy).

There are also plenty of things that I don't like about Mitt Romney. They pretty much all can be summed up like this: He's a slick politician. In other words, he plays the game that he has to play to win. He says what he thinks he needs to say, and sometimes I don't think it's genuine. But I still trust his motives and respect him. He'll make a fine leader of this country and might be just what it needs.