On Wednesday afternoon, Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney flew into
I’ve never been very good at asking questions. Luckily I had many friends, family and other people to draw off of their inquisitiveness where I was so lacking. So in the days leading up to the event, I started searching for questions.
The first friend I solicited offered up: “’Who are you?’”
“You mean in a figurative or symbolic sense…who are you?” I asked.
“No,” she replied, “I mean ‘Who are you?’ I’ve never heard of this guy.”
One of Romney’s challenges in this very early Presidential race is that nobody is very familiar with him, despite his impressive résumé. Successful business man, Republican governor in the blue state of
The next round of question suggestions I received touched on his other perceived problem. We seemed to have evolved to the point where Americans are open to electing a woman or a minority for President, but if you are one of the approximately 13 million Mormons in the world, people get skittish. “Do you wear the special secret underwear?” “If polygamy were legal, how many wives would you have?”
Ugh. These jokes were played out when I first heard them about six months ago, and now they are intolerable. I think that by the time the primaries hit, most voters will feel the same way, and if Romney gets the nomination, it won’t even be an issue in November.
Fortunately, I did manage to get a couple of serious suggestions. “If he were the nominee, are there people he has in mind as running mates?” It’s a fun, interesting question, and I would definitely use it as a backup.
I opened it up to my fellow LBposters, and got this one from Denise Penn, to ask Romney to confirm or comment on the following statement: “Mitt Romney has asked his Utah finance committee co-chair, Robert Lichfield, who is affiliated with a controversial network of schools for troubled teens and has been dogged by allegations of abuse and fraud, to step down.”
I envisioned myself getting up and asking this question, followed by shouts and boos from my fellow Republicans as I am whisked out of the auditorium by men in suits. Luckily, I was first attending as a concerned American, and second as a registered Republican, third as a member of the Chamber of Commerce (who helped organize the event), and lastly as a commentator for lbpost.com. I personally didn’t care if one of his former co-chairs was in legal trouble, and I was satisfied that Romney had asked him to step down.
I was looking for a question that would satisfy all of those parts of me, something that would give insight into what I was looking for in a Presidential candidate. There was one that came from within me that encompassed everything I was looking for in the next leader of the free world.
“How are you going to unite and heal our very split country?” Since 2000, we have been split, and I think that even if Gore had been President, he would have also kept the nation split. I was looking for someone who could lead and unite naturally, without having to say they were doing it (a la Bush’s ironic edict: “I’m uniter, not a divider.”)
The event was held in a hanger underneath DaVinci Restaurant, and I was surprised by the lack of security as people just filed in and took a seat where they pleased. I was ushered up to one of the front rows reserved for Chamber members, and remarked to myself that my membership was finally paying off, as I chose a seat about three feet from where he would be standing.
I explained to the woman sitting next to me my question dilemma, and then ran it by her.
“Is it too broad?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
Damn, I thought, time for the backup about the Vice-Presidency. Sitting close to me was City Auditor
“If you become the Republican nominee, who would you choose as a running mate?” she stated.
Damn again. As my mind began to race, music started playing, and Mitt Romney walked up to the stage and took his place in front of a single microphone. One of the many comments I also hear is that Romney looks and seems too good. Too perfect. Either people are just suspicious of good looking people, or our nation is suffering from a serious case of collective low self-esteem.
Married to only one woman in his life, and still with her, he stresses family in a genuine way, and even introduces the audience to his nephew, George Romney, who lives and works in
There was nothing forced or canned in his responses. He hits all the right notes that appeal to Republicans, but also appeal to independents and conservative to moderate Democrats on such issues as spending and the culture in
There were plenty of good questions asked all around, and I knew I had to ask one—my column depended on it. One woman ominously asked Romney if he supported the “North American Union” and if he considered himself a “globalist”. That was an interesting, if slightly odd one, but tough to follow. Somehow
“I’m sorry, I’ve just been informed that was my last question,” Romney said.
Nothing. I was going to come away empty handed. I could tell the crowd of about 150 was surprised…it seemed like he answered five or six questions. All this time preparing myself for a question, and it was already over. Maybe I could become a Romney groupie and follow him around from one “Ask Mitt Anything” to another like a Grateful Dead fan. Well, his supporters are called Mittheads.
Fortunately, I was able to squeeze in and get a picture with him, as he stayed for a surprisingly long time afterwards to shake hands, sign books, and take pictures. Going away, I didn’t see a candidate who just looked Presidential, I saw a candidate who was Presidential. Calm, confident, eloquent, charismatic and strong—when people start paying attention to this race, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.