From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: “Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?”…. The evidence suggests no clear answer, or at least one that would survive Romney’s next speech or sound bite. Politicians routinely tailor their words to suit an audience. Romney, though, is shameless, lavishing vastly diverse audiences with words, any words, they would trade their votes to hear. More troubling, Romney has repeatedly refused to share specifics of his radical plan to simultaneously reduce the debt, get rid of Obamacare (or, as he now says, only part of it), make a voucher program of Medicare, slash taxes and spending, and thereby create millions of new jobs. To claim, as Romney does, that he would offset his tax and spending cuts (except for billions more for the military) by doing away with tax deductions and exemptions is utterly meaningless without identifying which and how many would get the ax. Absent those specifics, his promise of a balanced budget simply does not pencil out.
I rarely pay attention to political endorsements. Whether it’s from celebrities, unions, businessmen, or newspapers, there are a million and one voices, none of which hold substantial meaning. But when you’re a Mormon and the most important Mormon newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune not only endorses your opponent, but questions your honor and integrity, you’re in trouble. BIG trouble.
The problem is that I’m not certain Mitt Romney possesses the honesty and self-awareness to recognize the truth in what the Tribune’s editorial board wrote. He really has run a campaign predicated on being all things to all people and doing and/or saying whatever it takes in order to convince people to vote for him. If he can’t recognize the truth contained in the endorsement, he’s heavily invested in denial. If he’s consciously made the choice to seek the Presidency while sacrificing any semblance of honor and integrity, then he has no business being President. The willingness to employ dishonesty and deception as central campaign tactics is both reprehensible and immoral, and yet that’s exactly what Romney has chosen to do. All the Tribune’s editorial board has done is to recognize and illuminate the blatantly obvious and call their fellow Mormon on it.
If this portrait of a Romney willing to say anything to get elected seems harsh, we need only revisit his branding of 47 percent of Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, yet feel victimized and entitled to government assistance. His job, he told a group of wealthy donors, “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
I respect the right of Americans to make their own choices. That said, if you can look at the cynical and mendacious manner in which Mitt Romney has conducted his campaign and STILL vote for Romney with a clear conscience, it might just be time to re-examine your moral center. Or just stay home on Election Day.
America deserves better than a self-absorbed bully who’s proven that he’ll do or say anything, no matter how dishonest or disingenuous, to win. Being President isn’t about satiating a lust for power and promoting your own self-interest. It’s about trying to make America a better and more prosperous place for ALL Americans, not just the wealthy and powerful. Mitt Romney may have been a fabulously successful businessman, and that’s to his credit (depending on whether you believe humanity has any place in business), but he’s a damned poor choice to lead this country into the future. Romney would do well to take the words of the Tribune’s editorial board to heart…but that would require a modicum of honesty and self-awareness, qualities that stand in the way of his lust for power.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
