I just watched the PBS special "The Choice," which examines the life histories of Obama and Romney, seeking to shed light on what makes them tick. There are some interesting points, things about both men that I didn't know.
What I found most interesting, though, was the eerie similarity between Romney and a different President: George W. Bush. The parallel I see is that both men had successful fathers who had made their way to the top in politics; both of them apparently revered those fathers, yet also seemingly felt driven to outdo them. (Freudian? Oedipal? Or just kinky?.) I would argue this duality led "Dubya" tragically to start a war in Iraq for no better reason than to get even for Saddam's making a fool of his pop, while also showing up daddy by completing what the older man had left unfinished.
For Romney, it's possible that just achieving the Presidency, where his father failed, may of itself be the crowning touch that puts him a step above his father. Certainly, as many observers have pointed out, the only immutable principle in his campaign for President seems to be his unshakeable conviction that he deserves to be President. Yet it's worrisome to ponder where else he might lead us.
Romney might do better to study his father a bit more closely and seek to emulate him before surpassing him. George Romney, as "The Choice" makes clear, was a committed egalitarian, a moderate, and a man of principle and conviction. His son, clearly not one wanting to be accused of being brainwashed, has abandoned principle in favor of crass opportunism, shifting views from week to week on every issue in the book as current polls dictate. He pulled the very same switcheroo in his campaign for the governorship in Massachusetts.
As Governor, he seemed to share many of his father's views. Is that the real Mitt Romney? Perhaps, but how will voters be able to tell until after the fact?
Another angle: Does Romney's propensity for the 180-degree turn only presage that he's flexible enough to craft a successful, pragmatic, and bipartisan solution to all that ails us? And if he can do that, is it possible that as President, he could thus not only rescue the country, but also rescue the Republican Party from the extremist parasites gnawing at its innards? Watching the show, you can almost come away with the thought that maybe Romney is just what we need to break our current deadlock, the guy who's not committed to a party position, the businessman who crunches numbers, analyzes, and works out a solution that works.
Almost. But politics isn't business. Maybe Romney-as-President would turn out to be that savior but I'm more inclined to fear that his lack of firmly grounded principles could make him a patsy for extremists in the party. In this way, too, he would be an echo of George W. Bush.