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| Mitt Romney, presumptive president of the platitude | Mitt Romney, presumptive president of the platitude |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| If there has been one connective thread that defines the rhetoric of the presidential campaign trail, it is the century-long debate between Democrats and Republicans over the proper role of government in the lives of the American people. This election promises to be no different – indeed, rarely has the gap between the two parties on this issue been as wide as it is today. But if Tuesday night's speech by Mitt Romney, kicking off the 2012 general election, is any indication, it's a debate this year that will be defined as much by caricature as it is coherence. | If there has been one connective thread that defines the rhetoric of the presidential campaign trail, it is the century-long debate between Democrats and Republicans over the proper role of government in the lives of the American people. This election promises to be no different – indeed, rarely has the gap between the two parties on this issue been as wide as it is today. But if Tuesday night's speech by Mitt Romney, kicking off the 2012 general election, is any indication, it's a debate this year that will be defined as much by caricature as it is coherence. |
| Romney's "big speech" was billed by his campaign as a preview of the general election campaign to come. It showed the presumptive Republican nominee in unusually strong form, railing against the failures of President Obama and the tepid economic recovery, while, at the same time, seeking to recast himself – a multimillionaire – as a man of humble origins and traditional American values. After a campaign in which Romney's favorabilities have tumbled mightily and the image of the candidate as a product of great personal means has adhered rather cohesively to him, it's an image makeover that could not be more overdue. | Romney's "big speech" was billed by his campaign as a preview of the general election campaign to come. It showed the presumptive Republican nominee in unusually strong form, railing against the failures of President Obama and the tepid economic recovery, while, at the same time, seeking to recast himself – a multimillionaire – as a man of humble origins and traditional American values. After a campaign in which Romney's favorabilities have tumbled mightily and the image of the candidate as a product of great personal means has adhered rather cohesively to him, it's an image makeover that could not be more overdue. |
| Still, old habits die hard, and like so many of the candidate's speeches over the past year, his remarks last night tended to rely more heavily on platitudes than actual policy ideas and once again took various liberties with the truth. Consider, for example, how Romney described Barack Obama's vision of America: | Still, old habits die hard, and like so many of the candidate's speeches over the past year, his remarks last night tended to rely more heavily on platitudes than actual policy ideas and once again took various liberties with the truth. Consider, for example, how Romney described Barack Obama's vision of America: |
| "Government is at the center of his vision. It dispenses the benefits, borrows what it cannot take, and consumes a greater and greater share of the economy. With Obamacare fully installed, government will come to control half the economy, and we will have effectively ceased to be a free enterprise society. This president is putting us on a path where our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats and boards, commissions and czars. He's asking us to accept that Washington knows best – and can provide all." | "Government is at the center of his vision. It dispenses the benefits, borrows what it cannot take, and consumes a greater and greater share of the economy. With Obamacare fully installed, government will come to control half the economy, and we will have effectively ceased to be a free enterprise society. This president is putting us on a path where our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats and boards, commissions and czars. He's asking us to accept that Washington knows best – and can provide all." |
| This is pretty standard GOP boilerplate; it's also a childish caricature of the liberal vision of the role of government. Indeed, from the perspective of many a liberal, Obama is far too tepid and far too defensive in making clear government's role in fostering opportunity and ameliorating social inequality. The Romney nightmare vision of the socialist welfare state that Obama supposedly is well on his way to creating has, at best, little relationship to reality. | This is pretty standard GOP boilerplate; it's also a childish caricature of the liberal vision of the role of government. Indeed, from the perspective of many a liberal, Obama is far too tepid and far too defensive in making clear government's role in fostering opportunity and ameliorating social inequality. The Romney nightmare vision of the socialist welfare state that Obama supposedly is well on his way to creating has, at best, little relationship to reality. |
| In fact, the irony of all this is that if any politician in this cycle has a rather one-sided view of the role of government, it would be Mitt Romney: his support for a House Republican budget would end Medicare's federal guarantee and substantially shrink the social safety net. | In fact, the irony of all this is that if any politician in this cycle has a rather one-sided view of the role of government, it would be Mitt Romney: his support for a House Republican budget would end Medicare's federal guarantee and substantially shrink the social safety net. |
| Nonetheless, Romney's attacks will likely be catnip to the millions of Americans – on all sides of the political spectrum – who have spent the last 40 years having the idea pounded into their head that government is a uniquely malevolent force in American life. His paeans to free enterprise, entrepreneurship, "education, hard work, and living within our means" will, no doubt, appeal to the rugged individualist that exists inside millions of Americans. | Nonetheless, Romney's attacks will likely be catnip to the millions of Americans – on all sides of the political spectrum – who have spent the last 40 years having the idea pounded into their head that government is a uniquely malevolent force in American life. His paeans to free enterprise, entrepreneurship, "education, hard work, and living within our means" will, no doubt, appeal to the rugged individualist that exists inside millions of Americans. |
| Still, it didn't provide much in the way of guidance about the sort of president Mitt Romney will be – and how he will translate his rhetoric into concrete action. What little Romney did identify about how he will jumpstart the economy – and cure what he sees as rampant "unfairness" in American society – appeared to revolve around minimizing unions, reducing the pay of government workers and stopping "the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends' businesses". These are hardly the issues that one would imagine are first and foremost in the minds of the American people. | Still, it didn't provide much in the way of guidance about the sort of president Mitt Romney will be – and how he will translate his rhetoric into concrete action. What little Romney did identify about how he will jumpstart the economy – and cure what he sees as rampant "unfairness" in American society – appeared to revolve around minimizing unions, reducing the pay of government workers and stopping "the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends' businesses". These are hardly the issues that one would imagine are first and foremost in the minds of the American people. |
| When Romney tried to take an empathetic course about how it "broke his heart" to see soldiers "return home to an unemployment line", his stated solution was to "restore the principles of freedom and opportunity that made America the greatest nation on earth". | When Romney tried to take an empathetic course about how it "broke his heart" to see soldiers "return home to an unemployment line", his stated solution was to "restore the principles of freedom and opportunity that made America the greatest nation on earth". |
| At the end, Romney left the stage to the now over- familiar tune of Kid Rock's "Born Free" – a reminder to those in the audience who might have missed it that Mitt Romney is on the side of freedom, Barack Obama not so much. And so it goes. | At the end, Romney left the stage to the now over- familiar tune of Kid Rock's "Born Free" – a reminder to those in the audience who might have missed it that Mitt Romney is on the side of freedom, Barack Obama not so much. And so it goes. |
| For those hoping that the Republican primaries, with its collection of cranks, also-rans, and Herman Cain, was the preview for a more refined general election campaign – last night wasn't your night. | For those hoping that the Republican primaries, with its collection of cranks, also-rans, and Herman Cain, was the preview for a more refined general election campaign – last night wasn't your night. |
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