We The People

We The People may be the three most important words in our constitution. They demand that we take responsibility for ourselves and our future. These words have not only  been resonating in America with the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements, but around the world — from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and beyond. While a dictator has not held sway in America, our progress has been held hostage by bickering politicians. We The People have the ability to change that.

The Iowa caucuses are the official start of the Republican primary season. For months we’ve had the chance to meet the candidates through a series of televised debates. The press has boiled the choice down to Mitt Romney or the non-Romney candidate du jour.

Michele Bachmann started strong with her Iowa Straw Poll win but was soon upstaged when the governor of Texas threw his ten-gallon hat into the ring. But, oops, it turns out Rick Perry is all hat and no cattle. Everyone wanted to like Herman Cain but it seems his libido got in the way of his good judgment.  Libertarian-leaning Ron Paul will make you love him with one answer and be terrified of him with the next. Newt Gingrich, who has been a brilliant debater, surged when Cain suspended his campaign and Perry self-destructed. But, alas, Mr. Gingrich’s past relationships — marital infidelities and Fannie & Freddie — left voters wondering about the strength of his character. Rick Santorum, a solid debater and tenacious, was rewarded with a timely surge just before the caucuses but is probably too conservative for independent voters in the general election. Jon Huntsman, the former ambassador to China and governor of Utah, is popular with independents but has barely made a blip on the primary screen. (Mr. Huntsman’s inability to gain any traction is unfortunate; he has bold ideas and a pragmatic sensibility.) This leaves Mitt Romney as the most viable choice to top the republican ticket.

Mr. Romney has shown intelligence and deftness time and time again on the debate floor and is squeaky clean in his personal life, yet America hesitates and Mr. Romney’s poll numbers stay constant but somewhat anemic. Some say the hesitation is due to a weak Republican field. I don’t think so. Every person running has helped define the type of leader that America needs, and voters have been paying attention — the many debates have been widely watched.  If voters have been slow to fall in love with Romney it may be  because they are a little “gun -shy” after electing Mr. Obama — another great debater from Harvard Law, but unable thus far to get America back on track.

What separates Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney as leaders? In a word: Experience. Mr. Obama was a community organizer, briefly a state legislator, and even more briefly a U.S. Senator before becoming President. Mr. Romney graduated from Harvard with a law degree and a business degree, went to work for a management consulting company, later co-founded and ran a private equity investment firm, took over the financially troubled 2002 Olympic games turning them into a success, and from 2003 until 2007 was the republican governor of the very “blue” state of Massachusetts. Mr. Romney has been demonized for making a lot of money but if you look closely at his resume you will notice that he has also been very successful in crisis management.

So, why is this election so important? Where do I start? Unemployment is incredibly high, Europe is going broke and America is not far behind. Almost half of every dollar we borrow goes to pay the interest on our debt. Entitlements (Social Security, Medicare) are unsustainable and will either go broke or break our children and grandchildren if they aren’t reformed. There is an Arab revolution taking place. Iran is run by a crazy man that will soon have a nuclear weapon and North Korea, which already has nuclear weapons, just lost their long-time dictator and the country is now being run by his son that we know nothing about. We are nearing crisis mode.

In the mid-term elections Republican candidates led by Tea Party types were wildly successful, Obama dug in his heels, became divisive, resorted to class warfare and America suffers.

Mr. Romney will never be loved by the far left or the far right and the press doesn’t find him exciting. There are however, plenty of people who appreciate his success in working with a democratic legislature (as a republican governor!) to move his state forward, and his business background that allows him to seek solutions to problems without letting ideology get in the way. Mr. Romney is not a dreamer he’s a doer. He’s not a cool uncle that will give you a beer and take you to a concert — he’s the dad that will make you take your medicine (and it’s not going to taste good) but you will feel better the next day, not hungover.