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.
