Thoughts on the Passing Scene

or...How I Convinced Myself To Vote For Mitt Romney...

In the words of President Obama, "Allow me to be clear."  I'm no Mitt Romney fan.  Not at all.  I think he's a center or center-right politician who got into the game as part of the family business, who's willing to do or say whatever it takes to be President.  I think he's slimy and more concerned about himself and his ambitions than his commitments to other people.  I don't make these statments lightly, or from a place of uneducated guesswork based on watching him on TV or something. 

I've met The Mitt several times and I was working on a gubernatorial campaign when he was head of the Republican Governor's Association.  I've seen how he is in person, and I've seen how he runs organizations he's in charge of.  And I'm not super-impressed. 

But.

Right now we have President Obama.  And he bothers me.  Look, I don't have to agree with all of the President's policy decisions.  We live in a democracy constitutional republic (as someone reminded me earlier this week).  You win some, you lose some.  I can be disappointed, I can disagree, but I can't claim that I deserve to have everything go my way.  But what bothers me most about President Obama is that he doesn't give me the one thing I - all of us - deserve: a competent President. 

My problem with Obama is that he is completely unqualified for the job of President, and does not appear to have engaged in any particular degree of on-the-job training over the past four years. He is totally incompetent, and time and time again demonstrates that he lacks the basic institutional knowledge and executive experience to successfully fulfill the role.

I am not a Romney fan. It is unlikely that I will make phone calls or knock on doors on his behalf. But I will vote for him, because I believe that he has the skills and background necessary to sucessfully execute the Office of President of the United States. Regardless of our policy differences and the fact that I think he’s slimy, this is clearly a step up from the current situation.

This is a democracy constitutional republic. Everybody votes, and the winner governs. Each of us doesn’t “deserve” to have our guy win, and nor do we “deserve” to have our policy preferences enacted at every turn.

What we do all deserve is a President with the skills, knowledge, and experience to execute the office faithfully. Obama clearly does not. I believe that Romney does.

Therefore, I vote for Mitt Romney.