I see no reason not to reconfirm that Mr. Obama is going to lose
on November 6. The best that can be said about him is that he’s
cornered the market on electrons, such is the negativity emanating
from his campaign and his media. It’s come to the point that all
his opponent need do is sneeze, and next thing we know Mitt Romney
has been wrestled to the ground and beaten within an inch of his
political life. Even before his mid-summer foreign trip, the
attackers questioned Mr. Romney’s right to travel overseas at all.
He was lucky his passport wasn’t confiscated. Then once overseas he
dared open his mouth and offer a few opinions. Such brazen abuse of
free speech and class privilege was deemed simply unacceptable. In
fact, the devil in Ms. Maureen Dowd scorned Romney for repeating
the name of the late Pope John Paul II while in Poland.Imagine what
she might have said had he done so in Israel.Unless, of course, it
had met with Palestinian approval.
Last hurrahs sure can turn ugly. I’m speaking not just of Ms.
Dowd, but other aging scribes and newsies who seem to be leading
the relentless assaults on Mr. Romney—such critters as Mark
Shields, Richard Cohen, Bob Schieffer, and Eugene Robinson come to
mind—desperate as they are to hold on to the old order, knowing
full well that if Obama loses they lose, irreparably. What
professionalism the soft-spoken Mr. Schieffer once had has given
way to his insisting to Charlie Rose that it’s up to Mr. Romney to
prove that he’s not a wimp. Yes, Democrat opinion is divided on
whether Mr. Romney is a simpering wimp or a crazed warmonger.
Once in a while, though, they let something interesting slip in,
such as Ms. Dowd’s observation that “Romney was in the forefront of
a revolution in American finance,” which she regards as one aspect
of his life “he doesn’t want to talk about.” Gee, I wonder why.
Isn’t that part of the criminality in his Bain background? If Ms.
Dowd were half the journalist she’s pretended to be, she would have
written the story of Romney’s business brilliance and
acumen.Luckily, we have George Gilder this month covering that
story instead. In “Romney, Bain, and Me” (p. 22), he opens a window
to Romney at his most imposing—albeit still guarded—and provides
genuine insight into the real promise of a Romney presidency.
When’s the last time you saw an article do that? We may yet
rediscover that “capitalism begins with giving.”
When Mr. Gilder published those famous words more than three
decades ago, the spirited contributors to this month’s special
symposium weren’t even a gleam in their parents’ eyes. But look at
them now, and how much they’ve intuited and mastered.What are their
main generational concerns? The economic burden imposed on them by
Obamacare (p. 43), student loans (p. 34), Social Security’s
insolvency (p. 37)— all this in a stagnant, jobless economy. Mr.
Gilder’s famous book of 30 years ago was entitled Wealth and
Poverty. It’s now out in a new edition for the 21st century.
One hope of our Millennial manifesters is that when the third
edition of the book comes out 30 years from now, it won’t end up
retitled Welfare and Poverty.
Something tells me that if they retain the cheek and verve
displayed by their confrère Helen Rittelmeyer (p. 40), they won’t
have anything to worry about.
