The stepford candidate
Frankly I liked him better when he was pro-choice, pro-gay and anti-gun. Unfortunately in a country where fiscal conservatives must cater to socially hyper-active christofacists to be considered viable for the Republican primaries, candidates are often forced to change so that they can win. In fact, I may be willing to overlook his beach shoe approach to issues because I genuinely liked his upbeat campaign and pro-business agenda.
But then, my wife Kathy and I were watching the news this weekend and she said, “you know, there’s something wrong with him.” Her brow furled as she said it and you could tell she was pondering what it was that she would say to support her point. “He’s just too… too… clean.” She paused for a moment because she knew that I wouldn’t accept that as a reasonable argument and then said, “he’s like a robot.”
And then it struck me (as with all things Kathy), she was right.
Like the women in the story the Stepford Wives, Mitt Romney is the Stepford Candidate. If you don’t like what he says or does today, just wait until tomorrow - he’ll do a little reprogramming and then he’ll say it the way you want. What’s even more amazing is that early campaign financiers are so willing to accept the ever improving Robo-Romney… and maybe that’s where the real concern should lay.
The public understood a long time ago that politicians attempt to spin their positions to better associate themselves with the voter group they are trying to co-opt. The more cynical of political watchdogs call this lying… those of us who work with words prefer to call it nuancing a position. In any case, it’s what politicians do.
But the people who write the big checks, they look at a candidate like Mitt Romney differently. They see someone who can appeal to whomever he speaks. They see someone who will change to please his audience. And they see someone who if programmed correctly can do their bidding.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think he’s got some good points. I just hope that we can wire Romney in a way that makes this stepford voter/husband happy.
He is a very polished person, which you would expect given his education and business experience. This is something people are always lambasting Bush for lacking. If you are too rough, you are dumb. If you are too polished, you are a robot. At least he’s clean and not slimey (I can think of some names to insert here). Anyway, I think you are right to focus on fiscal conservatism. Really, when you think about social conservative issues, you have to ask yourself to what extent that makes a difference. Romney says Roe v. Wade should be overturned and that states should be allowed to make their own reasonable laws related to regulating abortion. Well, the President doesn’t get to make that decision. Being a single issue voter on that issue is sort of silly. To some extent it is also silly on the gay marriage question. I suppose that the federal law that makes gay marriages recognized in one state not recognized in another could be changed, but the federal government, by and large, doesn’t deal with marriage. And frankly, there is little to no chance of a federal marriage amendment passing. So, you are left with things like his proposal that families be allowed to have a certain amount of investment income untaxed in order to encourage savings. How else are we going to collectively survive the Social Security pyramid scheme? A very good proposal. Something that could actually happen. Something the President could actually make happen. It is ideas like this, that are pragmatic and forward thinking, that are the main reason I support Romney. He is a good leader, with good ideas, who, in my view, is a very necessary counter-balance to the democratic house for the continued growth and success of America.
April 11th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
[…] In vacillating on my feelings about the Republican candidacy of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, I’ve posted about the potential of this campaign serving as nothing more than preparation for 2012, I’ve talked about the origins of his early money successes and his faith, and I’ve discussed his robot-like campaign behaviors. Each one of these posts has generated a decent amount of reader mail. […]
May 2nd, 2007 at 9:02 pm
[…] Guy who will say anything to win - Mitt Romney. He was for his health insurance plan in Massachusetts before he was against it and now he’s for it again (truly a John Kerry moment when asked what he thought about the plan he enacted as Governor which now gets no mention by him along the campaign trail because it is compared to Hillary-care; last night called the plan - “Fantastic!” and then quickly changed gears to another issue). He is the Stepford Candidate. […]
May 4th, 2007 at 7:54 am
[…] The REARvrEND Al Sharpton’s comments about Mitt Romney’s faith during a Monday night debate with Christopher Hitchens have warranted a reply from the Stepford Candidate: “It shows that bigotry still exists in some corners,” said Romney, who spoke to reporters after a campaign event. “I thought it was a most unfortunate comment to make.” […]
May 9th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
[…] If Mitt Romney can’t convince the electorate to vote for him by changing his opinion on major issues to better align himself with the social conservatives, perhaps the Stepford Candidate can buy his way to the Republican nomination. […]
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm