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Another Perspective
Advice for Mitt Romney: Form Is Substance
He wants to be president yet the way he speaks and dresses isn’t presidential.
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has the business credentials needed to rescue this country from its descent into socialism and big government as the solution to all human travails. As president, we could also expect an end to a tentative and apologetic foreign policy.
After Super Tuesday, Romney is still the frontrunner to take on President Obama in the fall. His résumé speaks to private capital and the American tradition of free enterprise, qualifications that the president and his retinue of advisors for the most part do not have. But Romney could do much more to inspire. As a brand he needs some friendly advice.
In politics, as in professions such as diplomacy, law, banking, consulting, and advertising, often form is substance. President Bush with a bullhorn at the rubble of the World Trade Center is a lasting image. An aircraft carrier patrolling the Strait of Hormuz makes a statement. So does an address by a foreign head of state from the White House Rose Garden. In positioning a product or a brand, there is a value to simplicity and brevity. In short, Romney needs help with his form, which can be an impediment to communicating his substance.
First, Romney needs to slow down and speak more deliberately. He is much too wound up, seemingly with a sentence, phrase, or answer for all ideas and issues. He needs to look like he is thinking about what he is saying. Silence and pauses can be effective and dramatic when used properly. Even if it is the case, there is no need to strive to look like the smartest guy in the room. After all, that is what cabinet officials and White House czars are for.
Ronald Reagan spoke purposefully and distinctly, and was known as the “Great Communicator” for a reason. He had immense presence, doubtless cultivated from years as an actor. When President Reagan famously said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin in 1987, it was succinct — not like a record at 78 rpm. His facial expressions were cultivated, and his sense of humor was at times self-effacing. Imagine if Romney paused and responded at a press conference or town hall meeting, “That’s a profound question, Sir; please allow me to reflect on what you said and get back to you — what is your e-mail address?”
Second, Romney needs to create an aura of crisis management with more gravitas (a word I dislike for its overuse but still use). Few would argue that this country is not in the worst economic and financial condition since the 1930s. Fundamental causes (trade and treasury deficits) go unremedied, and massive sacrifices will be required for America to live within its means and restore its competitiveness. The focus of the Obama Administration has been on excessively legislating and constraining American enterprise and talking down the successful, at a time when investment and entrepreneurship are needed more than ever.
Romney is a financial Green Beret and is senior enough and handsome enough to have a lot of gravitas. But he smiles too much — and under America’s grim circumstances he needs the right game face for a country in distress. He cannot project a sense of mission about restoring jobs and our trade balance and reducing colossally destructive Treasury deficits with lots of smiles.
Third, Romney needs to tone down the blue jeans and button down shirts, a contradiction in and of themselves. Jeans are fine for touring the farm belt or national parks. But we need a leader who looks like a peer of heads of state, or a primus inter pares on the world stage. Romney has a fine tailor and he should present himself that way. Why is it that his Secret Service detail is better dressed than the candidate they are protecting? If you have the message, you can get the votes of young people — look at President Obama in his svelte Hartmarx kit tweeting to a youthful following. Look at Ron Paul usually always in a suit — idolized by some of the young.
In the eyes of many, President Obama is a formidable speaker — public speaking is perhaps his finest art, and in matters of form he excels. For Romney, and for any leader trying to bond emotionally with the people of a country, form is substance.
About the Author
Frank Schell is a business consultant and former international banking executive. He serves on the Dean’s International Council of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, where he is a lecturer, and on the editorial board of the Chicago-based National Strategy Forum, which focuses on national security issues.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (80) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 3.8.12 @ 6:33AM
Is Obama a formidable speaker?
He's obviously well coached but at times, when he goes off script, he looks like an empty shell.
You have some good suggestions for Romney but telling him to stop smiling so much isn't one of them.
A smile is an effective form of communication and even when someone is down in the dumps they will relate to it.
Obama's stern visage makes him look like what is, the proverbial empty suit.
No, Romney should keep smiling and he has a lot to smile about.
Boar Hunter| 3.8.12 @ 11:43AM
I have never understood the Obama is a good speaker thing.
On the occasions I have been forced to listen to him as a sound byte demonstrating what he's lying about this time; to my ear, Obama has a pronounced lisp which makes me think of the beaver in Disney's Beauty and the Tramp. He uuums and aaahs and cannot form a cognitive thought unless he is reading it.
SpiralArchitect| 3.8.12 @ 12:00PM
They way 0bama speaks is solid, more of a storyteller. Conversly, his content is overscripted and lacking.
From the back of the room| 3.8.12 @ 12:57PM
Obama is not a good speaker.
He only looks reasonably good at a rostrum when one turns the volume completely down.
But....after just 10 minutes of viewing his body language one identifies: Lack of conviction, lack of core purpose, lack of soul in the "message," a lack that one cannot compensate for with rehearsals. And one sees over and over again overdone facial expressions that are contrived. He has now added blinking eyes that are supposed to convey meaning.
Thankfully people are not good liars. We just aren't. Our bodies, posture, head positions, shoulders, etc. give us away. Even when one practices to minimize.
Obama would just marginally get by in a tough speech course. The delivery is always off, and the reason for this is simple. The words are seldom his, so he cannot speak them with verve or gusto.
He'd get an F for connecting with his audience. His eyes do not connect to the other people's eyes. His eyes do not cover every inch of a room even when he speaks for 20 or more minutes.
The best speakers in the world do not need notes.
Last tidbit: He'd get a F grade for his use of "t" instead of pronouncing the word "to." Grown adults know how to say the word "to" every time.
scotchieguy| 3.8.12 @ 1:12PM
O'Reilly has a woman on from time to time who studies peoples's speeches and can tell by their body language if they are lying or not, what crossing one's arms say, what certain smile say, etc. She could nail Obama in a second. I think he is 100% full of BS. I literally don't trust one thing he says. The only thing I have to admit I actually like about him is he does seem serious. I also knows he is not cool, but aloof, icy, arrogant. But unlike Romney, he doesn't have that phony smile. I don't trust people who smile all the time or laugh all the time, especially at what they say, "I love playing golf, ha ha ha. It makes me feel young, ha ha ha. Don't you? Ha ha ha." "No, now go to hell, and wipe that stupid grin off your face!"
scotchieguy| 3.8.12 @ 12:32PM
His cheap, plastic smile makes him look like a buffoon, a fraud. Don't fall for it, Bill. He is as authentic as a $3 bill.
The Late George Appley| 3.9.12 @ 2:00AM
Those Romney jeans look terrible...
florin| 3.11.12 @ 11:27PM
Mr. Schell has some good points but I wonder if Mitt Romney is being over managed. So much so that he is not being just himself. He does appear stiff at times but many say it's because he is, by nature, a modest and reserved man. I kind of feel sorry for him. He is never credited with a win. gingrich can win one delegate and it's considered a major win...but Romney does not get credit at all, neither from liberals or Repubs. The fact that he just keeps going shows his great character and his strength. He'll make a great president. Gingrich's top aide said gingrich is staying in the race only to keep Romney from getting delegates...that's the difference between Romney and Gingrich...Romney is a man of good character and family values - gingrich is neither. gingrich wants to destroy Romney and if that means giving Obama 4 more years, so be it...if gingrich can't have the White House then he will do all he can to see that no one else gets it, even if it means giving Obama 4 more years...someone needs to yank gingrich off the trail and tell him to get a real job and a real life...
Appleby| 3.8.12 @ 6:38AM
"That's a profound question, Sir; please allow me to reflect on what you said and get back to you -- what is your e-mail address?" says to me, "Let me run this by my Focus Group and see what the Polls say before I answer you."
Romney is pretending to be One Of Us, and we all know it. He would like nothing better than not to have to see us or deal with us at all, but to sit down at a table with a Board of Directors and make decisions and have his orders carried out and move on to the next thing. He will be flummoxed and upset when he discovers that everything he and his wife and family do is criticized and everybody wants to be there when he's meeting with the board, and not on that, most of what he orders them to do will not be done. Then Romney will whine.
And another thing: Romney is a Mormon. Many of us are suspicious of him and wonder why he has not been shown attending church or meeting with his religious cohort; perhaps it is because the Mormons are not Christians and seeing him among them in situ would remind people that this is just one more way in which Romney is Not One Of Us. Couldn't he arrange to meet with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or something, just to put that bit in perspective?
In short, Romney needs to face head-on the things he's going to face if he should (I hope not) become President, and show us how he would deal with them. I have the feeling he will be a petulant whiner. I'd like to know before I vote.
Lyneuss Fields | 3.8.12 @ 9:32AM
And just remember that we also need to talk about the substance of my tax policy behind closed doors in the Fall. This is going to be my best flip-flop of all.
http://lyneussfields.blogspot......adows.html
Les Panek| 3.8.12 @ 9:45AM
Could we please squelch the anti-Mormon bigotry? "Not real Christians"?!? Leave that dispicable crap to the left. We've got a follower of Marxist, Anti-Semitic, Black Liberation Theology attacking Catholicism from the W.H., but the Mormon is suspicious? Riiiiight.
I'm ashamed to call some of you religious bigots countrymen.
And no, I am not a Mormon or a Romney supporter, but would rather spend time with a "lowly" Mormon than a high-and-mighty, hypocritical, bigoted "real Christian" any day.
Daniel| 3.8.12 @ 10:23AM
Well said, Les. I am so sick of all the anti-Mormon BS that I hear from people who should know better. I don't know or care if Romney is a "real" Christian but I do know and care that our POTUS is a "real" socialist and for our own survival we need to vote him out of office.
David Messick | 3.8.12 @ 11:58AM
Romney is also a socialist. RomneyCare is a socialist program created by a Statist and Leftist. Put a R behind his name and all that becomes ok with the blood blues of the party.
Lyneuss Fields | 3.9.12 @ 1:18PM
Mitt is a lying, flip-flopping, deceitful, no-good Wall Street scallywag too.
http://lyneussfields.blogspot......gious.html
florin| 3.11.12 @ 11:29PM
David Messick go back and report to your boss and buddy Obama that your attacks against Romney aren't working and Obama is going to have to face Romney in the general election and Romney will take him down
RTO| 3.8.12 @ 1:09PM
Daniel and others, you might be sick of what you perceive as some sort of anti-Romney bias based upon his declared following of Mormonism.
Really?
If there were a bias out there in America, Romney would not have been able to run in Massachusetts, for the nation in 2008 and now in 2011/2012. Romney and Huntsman have been and are well received wherever they go. Romney has (by hook or crook) won now in 10 states.
A bias?
Let's call it what it is: A real concern/uneasiness. And this has merit.
What you should be cognizant of is this:
Americans want leaders who hold Judeo-Christian values paramount in the own lives, in ever syllable, in every action.
Right now we have a POTUS who has angered a fair number of black and latino and more liberal pastors across the land. Obama was quick to point out and cozy up to his Christian bonafides on the long campaign trail of 2008.
But the 'awake America' now knows that was false.
Citizens don't want the same again. Certainly a majority of the citizens who favor/lean towards the Republican party.
Despite his claim of Mormonism, Romney's record in family values, faith values issues is -- not good. He is not so different at all than a liberal northeast pol.
loulou| 3.8.12 @ 4:55PM
Want to get off your high horse, Les?
Your sputtering outrage is annoying--I don't get a good feeling from it.
Crassus| 3.8.12 @ 10:23AM
Maybe Mittenz could arrange to meet with Donny and Marie to put things in persepective. They're Mormons.
Appleby| 3.8.12 @ 7:00PM
I used to be a Mormon. Believe me, it's not "mindless bigotry" on my part, it's inside experience. Mormonism is polytheistic, does not believe in the Trinity, and in fact teaches that if one is married in the Temple, one (if male) can eventuallly become a god and create worlds and populate them ... that is, he and his harem of sister wives will spend eternity begetting offspring who will descend to his planet and become his worshippers.
If that's Christianity, I have yet to find it taught in any church I ever attended.
Notary Sojac| 3.8.12 @ 6:43AM
Romney, in almost everything he does and says, fails to convey any sense of awareness of the danger which the radicalized Democratic party poses to America......the fact that we are in a fight for our lives, that we must win and they must lose.
This more than anything else is why I for one cannot contemplate voting for him.
The endless streams of vapid platitudes coming from his mouth don't help either. During his speech Tuesday night, I kept expecting him to pet a kitten while reciting the pledge of allegiance.
Boar Hunter| 3.8.12 @ 11:46AM
NO! It would be a puppy, everyone knows cats only appeal to liberals.
scotchieguy| 3.8.12 @ 1:02PM
I have always believed cat owners are liberal because there is no discipline with a cat--like a lib, he just does whatever feeeeeels right, whereas a conservative is more law and order, disciplined, orderly, so is more apt to have a dog which he can train. Plus, everyone likes dogs, not everyone likes cats, and conservatives are generally happier people than libs.
Baker| 3.8.12 @ 1:19PM
Good analysis, Scotchie. How do you label us folks that have both? Fence sitters?
Please know that I'm just teasing. I've had a number of cats (and of course hound dogs) in my life. You might be surprised at that training of cats. I've had two that enjoyed the training.
Couldn't we make the argument that cats represent what we wish more American citizens embrace: Self reliance.
I always have to make arrangements for the dogs if I go away even for just an overnight. Certainly if gone for two overnights. I can leave the cats to their own resources for two weeks (provided I've topped off all their bowls and done an extra pan or two.)
Ah, all of this for another post, another Am. Spec article by a good author some day: "Does /do your pet choice(s) reveal your political sympathies & leanings?"
Tim the Enchanter| 3.8.12 @ 3:42PM
How about cats, dogs, birds, and a turtle? How do we sit? Just wondering.
PL| 3.8.12 @ 12:20PM
Will someone please confirm for me---Was Mitt Romney using a teleprompter at his Tuesday (Super Tuesday) night address to his crowd in Massachusetts? I was watching his head back and forth swivels. No, he does not do it the way the metronome Obama does.
But still....
Are there times a leader, a speaker, a chairman, a president needs a teleprompter. Sure! Of course.
But I think I've seen Mitt Romney now in this back and forth "head swivel" and that TROUBLES me greatly. He's been working vigorously to get this job for 7.5 years -- at the least. Boilerplate lines that get the crowd cheering or doing "USA!" chants ought to be as easy for him as breathing.
Just a few years ago former Texas Congressman Dick Armey said, in reference to our POTUS who is crippled without speechwriters working feverishly 24/7 and without electronic aids, without teleprompters, "What kind of man is this? If you have something to say and it is your opportunity to speak, you stand up, and you just speak to the issues with what is on your heart." As he said these words his hands and arms gestured outwardly in a manner that cried out, "You don't need these!!!" (pointing at where the clear glass of teleprompters would be on thin black stands.)
With or without teleprompters, I don't hear Mitt Romney speaking from a conviction in his soul. So I agree with the author's point about a bit too many smiles.
Like it or not, Romney will be -- as we've all known since May 2011 -- the GOP nominee. And he will thus be our next president.
I don't care so much about the clothing. I need core values that tells me he gets it.
Derek Leaberry| 3.8.12 @ 4:58PM
Excellent criticism.
MARGARET| 3.8.12 @ 6:56AM
So, another article about how Romney can clean himself up to get votes. You guys keep trying to dress him up so he's presentable to the masses, but really - how many times must it be said that he just can't relate to people before the GOP admits they picked a really, really terrible candidate? The guy is not only boring, but he's cold and boring. Never mind his vast liberal feats as a one-term governor.
Vern Crisler| 3.8.12 @ 9:35AM
Right Margaret. It's too late in the game for Romney to change his stripes. Republicans have got to get used to the fact that they've once again chosen a dud.
David Messick | 3.8.12 @ 11:59AM
Elites have forced a dud upon us. The people have not been able to freely choose their candidate.
Derek Leaberry| 3.8.12 @ 5:09PM
I agree with MARGARET, Mr. Crisler and Mr. Messick. The GOP establishment wants to foist on the party a handsome carrot devoid of charisma. Perhaps Romney speaks in unconvincing platitudes because he is an empty suit. He's a chameleon willing to say anything to win election. And that makes him dangerous to conservatives if he wins. Romney will discredit conservatism because he is not conservative, he does not understand conservatives, and he will abandon conservatives at any opportune time as it suits him.
SpiralArchitect| 3.8.12 @ 12:05PM
A common misconception with the (R) voting masses. Whereas you are looking for a friend I seek someone that not only can but will adjust America back to a Constitutional course. America needs to be set straight again, I don't care if the guy looks like a homeless man and speaks like Donald Duck - results is the solution.
Obviously getting elected would not be easy sounding liek Donald Duck. That was merely an example for all of the criticle thinkers & haters reading TAS today.
Mike Hawk| 3.8.12 @ 7:00AM
Romney is a gossamer candidate. Lots of image, no form aor sustance and the image keeps shifting like a chameleon changes colors. This guy does not engender exitement or enthusiasm. HIs supporters tend to just be happy with him being 'good enough'. As for me I simply cannot determine what he stands for.
Boar Hunter| 3.8.12 @ 11:57AM
I know exactly what he stands for. Hasn't he told everyone?
He stands what you stand for...what liberals stand for, what atheists stand for as well as devote christians and muslims. He stands for green energy and defense against man made global warming, but is pro-manufacturing. He stands for anything he believes a group of more than three people tell him they believe because they are the independent voters. As far as disagreeing with anyone, Romney cannot even disagree with Obama on Obama care.
After all, it was a good idea, apparently Obama just implemented it incorrectly, why Romney would change almost some of the provisions immediately.
Mike Hawk | 3.8.12 @ 1:57PM
Well said. We must Eschew Obfuscation.
mjs_pa| 3.8.12 @ 7:10AM
In case any one's missed it:
After outcry from right, Mitt Romney reverses stance on minimum wage
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ti.....57691.html
David Messick | 3.8.12 @ 12:05PM
Yet another flip flop he may just flip back to one day. His character is not trustworthy because he lacks core unchanging principles.
The American Hitman| 3.8.12 @ 7:11AM
"Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has the business credentials needed to rescue this country from its descent into socialism and big government as the solution to all human travails. "
I stopped reading here. Mitt Romney's "credentials" consist solely of his plan for socialist healthcare that is the model for Obamneycare. What you do is what you are--he's a Republican socialist.
martin j smith| 3.8.12 @ 8:48AM
No, form is perception. But combined with his verbiage he appears to be a phoney and I do not like phonies.
BoxwoodDE| 3.8.12 @ 8:53AM
Are Spectator pundits reduced to giving fashion advice as part of their campaign handicapping? If so, lets have Gingrich lose about 50 pounds so his clothes fit him and have Santorum lose the seventies era sweater vests and grow some chin hair.
Boar Hunter| 3.8.12 @ 2:33PM
I find it quite endearing that you took offense on Romney's behalf and used the occasion to attack Gingrich and Santorum. I ask you. Is that angry, spiteful reaction what Mitt would have wanted from one of his supporters? Of course not. Apparently Romney does not feel strongly enough about anything to ever stand up for it.
As far as the clothes thing. I believe the point, you nit-wit, was to illustrate that in Romney's transparent attempt to create the image of some bond with the working man, Romney's handlers have done the equivalent of dressing this milque-toast nerd up in hip-hop clothes and sending him to school in South Central L.A.
Romney's wardrobe is simply an outwardly visible manifestation of his inner phoniness and fools no one but those vapid supporters like you who think his imagined appeal to independents and moderates equates to a win against Obama in the next election.
In my humble opinion, Romney has as much chance of beating Obama in the next election as the nerd in hip-hop does of keeping his lunch money.
Romney is a cowardly, flip-flopping sissy in a suit who has demonstrated no core values. Romney is fake and contrived on every issue right down to his choice of what socks to wear.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I firmly believe Romney is capable of defending his position on any given subject...right up to the time someone disagrees with him.
I believe that if his handlers told him he needed to wear a flowered dress to improve his image with the fun loving gay community, Romney would happily sport a floral print sun dress to a Nascar event.
By the way. I will not vote for Romney and it has nothing to do with what clothes he wears...unless he wears a dress. The dress thing really puts me off...OK, wait! I just changed my mind.
If Romney wears a floral print sun dress to an Nascar event it would at least prove he has a sense of humor and I might actually reconsider withholding my vote. Probably not, but at least it would demonstrate some character in the man.
florin| 3.11.12 @ 11:32PM
Boar Hunter...what a perfect name for you...you aren't worthy to shine Romney's shoes you pathetic wuss..and stop trying to foist your girlie sun dress on a real man...you are pathetic...
albert constantine jr.| 3.8.12 @ 8:42PM
BoxwoodDE;
Are you naming yourself after a closed GM plant?
The Bishop| 3.8.12 @ 9:27AM
Whole the writer's points are correct and helpful for purposes of branding, there are many brands that made for convincing advertising but did perform or live up to their branding image. We need a core behind the brand or it is utterly worthless. I have yet to see a core in Romney. I fear we are once again seeing the Republicans committing political hari cari.
JimP| 3.8.12 @ 10:01AM
Romney needs to do this and Romney needs to do that, etc. That's is the problem though. Even if he did these needed things it shows that Romney isn't any of these things or he would already be doing them. As for him being a "financial Green Beret", not IMO. He was very good at making the system that existed work in his and his investor's favor. But he was not in favor of supply side econmics/Reaganomics or reform of the tax code. That is what is needed now, not hikes in fees (taxes) and government provided healthcare etc. People are what they are. Romney is a status quo guy who smarts, background and connections was able to make the status quo work for him and his investors. He doesn't know how to improvise, adapt and overcome [that's think outside the box for those unfamiliar with the phrase], like Green Berets do. So, let Romney be Romney, which happens to be a big government Republican. If Mitt gets elected expect GHW Bush part deux.
Casey Abell| 3.8.12 @ 10:04AM
I don't get the bit about the clothes. Romney has looked just fine in his suits at the debates. Maybe it's the the contrast with Paul, who should sue his tailor. Or with Gingrich, who might want to try a salad now and then (yeah, I should talk).
I agree with slowing down his speech cadence a little. But not too much. Frankly, Reagan seemed to be fading badly in his second teerm as his speech got slower and slower. A dawdling pace can definitely be overdone.
The smiling? I dunno, compared to champion frowners like Santorum and Gingrich (and Obama, for that matter) Romney looks pretty good.
ronlsb | 3.8.12 @ 10:13AM
Nice article but the ultimate problem with Romney is that he simply has no passion for a conservative worldview. He's a technocrat by nature, and a good one. But that's NOT what America needs now. We need someone with a passion to attack the statist beast devouring our freedoms daily. Is there a perfect candidate for this? Certainly not. But Santorum rather than Romeny is by far best suited for that role at this point in time.
Mimi| 3.8.12 @ 10:14AM
I'm not into the "Garb" issue...it's hard work out there on the trail. The one thing Romney has going for him is his recent high spirited Energy with the " rolled up sleeve white shirt look"
I've been for Newt since last fall...with all the ups and downs....He's not moving at 15%. I like his PLAN and strong , confident , speeches that TELLS it straight.
We all have to control our impatience with this "NEW" process the bigs at the GOP came up with. The election this year is a critical one...I hope they knew what they were doing...It seems that this is a POOR time to experiment with lengthening the process...It is NOT normal times we are living in!
There is still time for a Conservative to take the nomination....The Ohio thing told the Romney folks The $ isn't going to work anymore...Rick almost made it thru the onslaught!
It is Romney behavior choices not his dressing that matters!
Patrick Henry Time| 3.8.12 @ 12:43PM
We all need to remember that Rick Santorum would have beaten Romney by 3 or 4 percentage points if Rick Santorum were on ALL counties/prescincts vote ballots two days ago.
It was -- once more (anyone see a pattern to this?) just like Virginia -- a completely uneven playing field, a playing field that always favors Mitt.
If you're good enough or better, you don't need to cheat. The Romney team is cheating over and over again.
THAT is not leadership.
David T| 3.8.12 @ 10:29AM
Somewhere, probably here in the pages of Am Spec, someone described Romney as an "apple polisher." The man seems too eager to please.
Jabber3| 3.8.12 @ 11:55AM
What Romney needs most of all is to call some liberal Democrat a sl*t. Consevatives love that kind of talk.
David Messick | 3.8.12 @ 12:08PM
I had no idea Bill Maher was a Consevative. :|
Dick Nome | 3.8.12 @ 1:55PM
Yeah, Maher, Liebowitz aka Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams. All good Conservatives who who never utter a trashy word. What you say..... they aren't...but, but
They are some of the most foulmouthed 'entertainers' I have ever heard. Maher, and Liebowitz aka Stewart are just nasty.
Jackson| 3.8.12 @ 12:05PM
Frankie, Frankie, Frankie- regarding the fact that Mitt smiles too much, doesn't dress to suit you (that's what well rounded people call a pun), or doesn't wear a game face....Only one word comes to mind: SCOREBOARD!
tennet| 3.8.12 @ 12:35PM
Excellent article because it talks to the nuts and bolts of leadership: Communication.
I would LOVE for a seasoned and very senior Toastmasters member/leader to chime in here.
What I very seldom hear from not just Romney but MOST politicians is the lack of "The Language of Leadership."
Some attention has been paid to the older woman in Ohio in the crowd who point blank asked Romney, "Are you going to repeal Obamacare?"
Romney's response, "Uh, who wouldn't?"
THAT IS NOT THE LANGUAGE OF LEADERSHIP.
And this older (smart!) Ohio woman knew it and immediately pressed Romney for a straight up "Yes" or "No."
Not sure we got it.
If one dials back and listens to Romney's Massachusetts speech just two evenings ago at the close of Super Tuesday, one hears a lot of equivocal word choices.
Leaders are always unequivocal.
Folks, like it or not Romney will obtain (notice that I did not write "win") the GOP nomination to face Obama and Romney will beat Obama on November 6.
That is as obvious as the fact that the season we call fall follows the season that we label summer.
Romney needs to LEAD. And he needs to speak like a LEADER.
Truth telling time: Isn't this why we all cannot get on board with Boehner, Cantor, M. McConnell and Co.? They never stand up and provide in 15 seconds or less the granite-solid words of leadership.
Leaders don't need 20 minutes of talking or 30.
Leaders tell you point blank what the direction is and tell you, "Yes, this will be done."
End. Stop.
Toastmasters, please contribute here. We'd love to hear from you. The subject of this author's article today is your bailiwick.
JimP| 3.8.12 @ 2:33PM
I agree 'tennet'! Who are these Toasmasters you to whom you refer? I must be completely out of the loop on this.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.8.12 @ 4:05PM
Someone in another thread mentioned accepting an invitation to attend a Toastmasters meeting. He plainly stated his opinion of our Ear Leader, and was asked to leave and never return.
Tom| 3.8.12 @ 4:57PM
Not in his personal family life (I'll give him that , for now) but Romney does remind me of Bill Clinton in that this guy is willing to say ANYTHING if he thinks it will improve his poll numbers and help him get elected.
Mistral| 3.8.12 @ 12:43PM
Who would support a man whoo receives the support of George Soros? Vote Romney and USA will be in for worse than 4 more years under Hussein Obama.
Tom| 3.8.12 @ 4:48PM
Amen!
At least with B. Hussein, we know that he will be gone in four years. If Romney is elected, we either (A) get this political huckster for EIGHT years; or (B) get another liberal Democrat after four years when the Romney Administration crashes and burns, whom in turn we may be stuck with for EIGHT more years after that.
Mike Hawk| 3.8.12 @ 5:31PM
We do not know that Obozo will be gone in 4 years. If he gets re-elected there may not be a 2016. At any rate the country will be unrecognizable at that point. We will have lost it.
Tom| 3.8.12 @ 6:34PM
In which case we will have the leadership of the Republican Party to blame for giving us a piece of garbage like Romney.
SUBVET| 3.8.12 @ 8:37PM
GEORGE SOROS........"We think either obama or romney's fine but Gingrich, he would change things".
wodiej| 3.8.12 @ 2:15PM
Him and Santorum always dress like the night managers at Walmart. Gingrich is always a statesman and in a suit and tie.
Ken| 3.8.12 @ 2:25PM
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still be pig. The problem with Romney is not his style but his core. He's left of center at best, in many ways no better than Obama. If he's the GOP nominee then count me out. May as well vote third party or not at all.
Tom| 3.8.12 @ 4:51PM
Exactly!
I was going to say that a pig in a finely-tailored suit is still a pig, but I share your thoughts in the matter.
Bill| 3.8.12 @ 3:10PM
Romney needs to campaign, and that will take him to the GOP convention (considering he is ahead in delegate counts) in Tampa, FL, and then it will be decided who will take on Obama.
Jeamar| 3.8.12 @ 3:41PM
Thank you Mr. Schell for commenting on Romney's ratty-looking jeans. I wouldn't got to Walmart with my husband looking like that although I must admit my husband would go without me looking like that.
Mr. Romney is interviewing for a job as president, he should dress as well as he would expect an executive looking for the most important job in the US to dress in a job interview. It is part of what I call the Long Island phoney poverty where the wives of multimillionaires go around in jeans carefully torn at the knees.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.8.12 @ 4:09PM
It seems some of the commenters are missing the 800lb gorilla in the room. If you have to coach Romney in skills of leadership, or mention to him things that should be obvious to a leader, what would that suggest? Maybe that the guy is NOT a leader?
Tom| 3.8.12 @ 4:53PM
Didn't you get the memo from GOP Headquarters that Mitt Romney is the most electable candidate the Republican Party could produce!!!! (sarcasm).
Joe Black| 3.8.12 @ 4:53PM
Well, this article is a new low of some kind. Mr. Schell, do you remember why the President is called Mr. President? What's next, gold leaf on the walls of the Oval Office? Hey, it worked so well for the czars.
loulou| 3.8.12 @ 4:57PM
Romney can't slow down his delivery because he is simply regurgitating memorized blocks of phrasing. He has no conservative core which is why the garbage he blurts out seems meaningless.
Bumr50| 3.8.12 @ 7:27PM
Well, there's that.
And Romneycare.
And support for cap and trade. (his CURRENT campaign advisers included)
And his unwillingness to "say outrageous things" about Barack Obama.
TrueBlue | 3.8.12 @ 7:36PM
Business credentials does not a conservative make. George Soros, Bill Gates (Jr. & Sr.), Warren Buffet, and Steve Jobs... are those names familiar to you? They're all successful businessmen, do you consider any of them conservatives?
M Bauman| 3.8.12 @ 7:42PM
So what the author is saying is Mr Romney has to do a better job of pretending to be all the things he's demonstrated he's not so far in this campaign.
TeaPartyPatriot4ever| 3.8.12 @ 9:26PM
This is Romney's political campaign stategy and tactics-
If you can't dazzle them with your record of Reagan conservatism and brilliance because you don't have any, carpet bomb them with Goldman Sach's and GOP Party establishment money bought negative ads 24/7.
Why is it, and how is it, with an anti-Obama electoral atmosphere so high, from his ultra liberal socialist policies, that have all but bankrupted the nation.. why in heaven would anyone in the Conservative Republican voting public, would want to elect Romney, whose policies are almost exactly the same as Obama's, almost to verbatim.
This is the troubling question that seems to be so troubling, as the reason and logic of it, just escapes any and all reason and logic.
It just make absolutely no sense whatsoever.. It's not their words so much, as their actions of public record, not their public persona and perception, which is opposite of the truth.
How easily the people are fooled. Amazing.. This is exactly why Obama is President in the first place.
Dark gray and light gray, are not very contrasting..
Liberalism, aka, Socialism-Marxism, whether from the Obamacrats or from RINO's, is still liberalism. Only a Reagan Conservative can beat Obama, and only a Reagan Conservative can be the complete opposite of Obama in contrast. Not a facsimile like Mr Liberal moderate progressive RINO Romney.. who by the way created his own forced mandated State Socialized Medicine program, before there was even an Obama or Obamacare.
POST American| 3.8.12 @ 11:23PM
-----------------------FINAL WORD---------------------
ANTI-Constitutional, chillingly North Korean
NDAA1021 remains a 'non-issue' in out
rectum worshipping, capstone con-trolled
'media'
Barely a week after the 'uncanny' 'natural'
death of -genuine- maverick Andrew Breitbart.
AS both both he ---and his "Obama videos' join
the FUKISHIMA world nuclear disaster,
the John Wheeler murder, and so much more
----in the memory hole
Leon Panetta commits open TREASON
while addressing our, such as it is, Congress.
We stand probably 2-3 years from full,
Globalist 'managed' receivership to the
US taxpayer underwritten, US economy
empowered, 'zealuosly' EUGENIC
Globalist RED Chinese 'mere--ICK---CULL'.
"Remember, in 1939 there were still
soveriegn nations left to resist tyranny.
Remember too, that neither the NAZIs
nor the 'Calm--you--nists' have ever been
overthrown by their subjects once installed.
Once this NWO, and its agendas for TOTAL
debt serfdom ---and TOTAL EUGENICS
is installed --there will be NOTHING to
stand in its way. ---NOTHING."
WE think you can connect the dots.
Putting aside now even the empty suit virtues
of 'SUB--Mitt ROME--knee' -----------and taking
in the full, the reach, depth and meaning of
the TROJAN HORSE TREASON now unfolding.
---------------HUAC/ Nuremberg 2012----------------
--------tick! ---tick! ---tick! ---tick! ---tick!
The Bruce| 3.9.12 @ 12:04AM
It's amazing that people are deluding themselves into thinking that it really matters who we put into office anymore.
Our fate is already sealed. We're heading for a debt and finance nightmare in the country (and globally). At this point, we're left with figuring out who might get us there just a little slower.
Government borrowing is only a part of the problem. Personal borrowing (private debt) is a much bigger one. And with anywhere between $600T and $1Q (yes, that's QUADRILLION) in derivatives twisting in the wind, I can only speculate that the chickens are coming home to roost very F'ing soon.
Three words...
Fractional... Reserve... Banking... It'll be the death of us (and I'm no anti-capitalist). At some point a deep, bellicose voice will announce, "MARGIN CALL."
See you in Thunderdome.
AVCurmudgeon| 3.11.12 @ 8:52PM
I'm not a Romney guy in the least, but will vote for him if he's the nominee simply on the "ABO" factor. That said, and solely on the narrow issue Mr Schell addresses, there are several significant qualities someone needs in the upcoming campaign. In no particular order:
(1) He should be someone who appears to know not to put his feet on other peoples' furniture;
(2) He should know who he his and not be afraid to let people see him as he is;
(3) He should understand in some "core" way what is really going on right now and be willing and able to speak to it.
On all three, I'm not sure Romney is the guy. Having spent so much of his life campaigning he does not seem to have spent much time defining himself other than in terms of the electorate. We have a consummate empty suit in the WH now; the last thing we need is to elect another.
Merridy Menna| 3.12.12 @ 10:46AM
No more czars, thank you very much. That is the left's strategy to co-opt powers that are not the prerogative of the executive branch.
the halfrican| 3.12.12 @ 5:34PM
Obama is a horrible speaker. Only an IDIOT would walk up to a teleprompter look left then look right and then look at the teleprompter and say " First of all I would like to thank president obama for coming here today "