As I read the assorted cynicism regarding Romney, I find I have to wonder . . .
Romney has a track record that would seem to indicate effective decision making and leadership.
He also seems to have a record of actually keeping promises.
And, for the first time since I can remember -- at all -- he seems to have a solid moral foundation (not only "no skeletons" but also "no closet").
I'm trying to remember when we last had a president with demonstrated business acumen, a demonstrated record of executive decision making, and a demonstrated record of actual leadership, with promises kept.
And I'm coming up empty. Ike was a moral man, a solid leader, and mostly a man of kept promises, but he was career military, not business. I could be wrong, but although we've had a couple of moral-ish presidents, and a couple who did their best to keep promises (with varying success), I can't recall ever electing anyone with this particular combination.
We've had lawyers, soldiers, an actor, more lawyers, a CIA director, a governor or two . . . but no businessmen.
While I don't have any particular faith in the GOP per se, I'm beginning to wonder if this Romney guy might actually have a shot.
The usual generalities just don't seem to apply.
With Bush, you could say "they" and the generality seemed appropriate. Same with Clinton. And so on.
They were master pragmatists, adaptable and plastic.
You don't step in and rescue the Olympics as a "pragmatic, adaptable, plastic" kind of guy. And then there's the 80% success rate managing capital investments. Actual effective decision making is required. And a certain degree of firmness.
Could it be he actually has a spine?
I wonder . . .