When Newt Gingrich criticized Mitt Romney’s record at Bain
Capital, he raised the ire of many conservatives and may have
unwittingly mobilized a Republican rank and file now prepared to
bestow Romney with the GOP nomination on a silver platter.
Rush Limbaugh
called Gingrich’s criticisms “out of bounds
for those who value the free market.” Former New York City Mayor
Rudy Giuliani was even blunter when he
said, “What the hell are you doing, Newt? I
expect this from Saul Alinsky!” But perhaps the most interesting
defense of Romney came from Mike Huckabee, who took aim at both
Gingrich and Texas Governor Rick Perry who famously accused Romney
of practicing “vulture capitalism.” Huckabee
said, “It’s surprising to see so many
Republicans embrace that left-wing argument against capitalism.”
Yet in 2008, it was Huckabee who in a campaign ad aimed at
Romney said,
“I believe most Americans want their next President to remind them
of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them
off.”
Given that Romney has spent the vast majority of his
professional life in the private sector and touts that experience
in his bid for the White House, it seems strange that any criticism
of that record from his Republican rivals is not only off limits
but the equivalent of criticizing free enterprise itself. It is a
curious line of argument when you consider that Bain Capital was
the
recipient of generous government grants,
subsidies, and tax breaks and profited handsomely regardless of
whether the companies in which it invested prospered or went into
bankruptcy. Any business in which one can reap the rewards without
suffering the consequences of risk can hardly be characterized as
engaging in free enterprise.
Well, if Romney can’t do a better job in making the case
for his record at Bain Capital much less answer a simple yes or no
question about whether or not he is going to release his tax
returns, then I’m afraid Mitt Romney still reminds Americans of the
guy who laid them off. So long as Romney continues to defend
himself in a cold, technocratic manner, he will simply be no match
for President Obama.
Whatever his faults (and there are many), Obama knows how
to relate to the issues in human terms. For instance, last month
when making remarks concerning minimum wage and overtime
protections for in-home care workers, Obama cited the day he spent
back in 2007 with a home health care worker named Pauline Beck in
an event called “Walk a Day in My Shoes,” sponsored
by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). While it
is worth noting that President Obama didn’t
mention the SEIU’s sponsorship yet somehow I
don’t think it would matter all that much to most of the voting
public:
When we met, she was getting up every day at 5:00 a.m. to go to
work taking care of an 86-year-old amputee named “Mr.
John.” And each day, she’d dress Mr. John and help him into
his wheelchair. She’d make him breakfast. She’d scrub his floors.
She’d clean his bathroom. She was his connection to the outside
world. And when the workday was done, she would go home to take
care of a grandnephew and two foster children who didn’t have
families of their own. Heroic work, and hard work. That’s what
Pauline was all about.
And one of the things I remember about Pauline was her
patience. She was patient with me even when I didn’t wring out the
mop properly or didn’t shake out the sheets before putting them in
the laundry bin. But I also remember listening to her talk about
the hardships in her life, and she did so without any self-pity.
She was glad to be working hard and she was glad to be helping
someone. All she wanted in return for a hard day’s work was enough
to take care of those kids she was going home to, enough to save a
little bit for retirement, maybe take a day off once in a while to
rest her aching back.
Each of the folks who are here today has a story like
Pauline’s.
And you can be sure that President Obama has a thousand
other stories he will tell on the campaign trail. While Obama
regales his audiences with the struggles of working people, it is
hard to imagine Romney spending a day cleaning a bathroom and doing
laundry never mind helping someone in and out of a wheelchair. It
is a shame that Undercover
Boss wasn’t on the air when Romney was at
Bain Capital. Aside from the thrill of seeing Romney struggle to do
menial tasks while incognito, it might have given him a better
understanding of what day to day life is like for working people.
Because as it stands, Romney has no idea what it is to worry about
money and so long as he remains insulated from the real world he
stands little chance of being elected President.
Of course, nearly everyone who runs for President is
wealthy be it earned and/or inherited. Yet some Presidents who came
from privileged backgrounds (i.e. FDR, JFK and George W. Bush) were
able to transcend their wealth because they had a common touch with
the people. Now it might very well be that FDR, JFK, and Bush had
these qualities because of their upbringing or possessed them
innately and instinctively. It could just be that Romney is simply
not emotionally wired to understand the travails of people who
don’t travel in his social circle. In which case, it is highly
unlikely that Romney will suddenly develop these traits at the age
of 64.
Yet if Mitt Romney wants to earn the Presidency it might
help him to pick up a mop. Otherwise, President Obama may wipe the
floor with him.
