1/22/12

Richard McGregor writes in the Financial Times that Mitt Romney’s business experience hobbles his attempt to become president (A Perfect Presidential Profile but Somehow Lacking a Spark). This seems preposterous. We have a community organizer and Harvard professor in the White House and an effective unemployment rate of close to 20 %. It would seem that a person who has been successful in business is exactly what we need.

The elite media is a big part of the problem and it helps to explain why Mitt Romney is having so much difficulty. The so-called Republican base hates the media, but only Newt Gingrich has been able to capitalize on this. Romney is too patrician and well mannered to directly confront the media, even though the media forms a protective ring around the community organizer. As a result, the fall campaign may be a conflict between two egomaniacs, Obama and Gingrich.

The media has been working with the Obama administration to turn the campaign away from a focus on jobs and toward income inequality instead. Capitalism is associated with inequality, so we need less of it, even though it means more poverty and fewer jobs.,What makes it even more confusing is that Gingrich has joined the left’s attack on capitalism.

One problem with experience in business is that it makes it difficult to understand the extent to which the rest of society is obsessed with ideology. A person in business is conditioned to focus on what works, rather than on what constitutes an ideal society. I have often tried to engage business executives in a discussion about this. Their reaction is almost always that politics is something they cannot control, but only work around. It is not surprising, therefore, that executives at Bain Capital (Romney’s private equity firm) have given more money to Democrats than Republicans over the years. After all, a government contract can often be just as profitable as a private business deal. The objective is to earn a good return on investment, not to change society.

The irony is that business ends up being victimized by ideologues, in the media, the education field, entertainment industry, and the legal profession. A corporate executive will often say it is much better to settle out of court than to go in front of a jury, because jury members have been conditioned by society to reason that since business has deep pockets it should be forced to pay. Americans have gone to school and been told by government employees, who are also union members, that capitalists are exploiters, and this attitude is echoed in Hollywood movies and in the mainstream media.

Romney is intimidated by the cultural surroundings and he is also too polite to fight back. He sounds apologetic when he talks about his taxes and his experience at Bain. The Republican base, which is ideological, resents this and is tempted to side with Gingrich, who is a fighter. Romney needs to spend some time with Chris Christie, and learn how to counter-punch.