SAN DIEGO — I hate to interrupt a coronation. But Republicans are about to make a huge mistake. And for those of us who believe that Barack Obama has underperformed as president and doesn’t deserve a second term, it’s hard to watch.
Here’s the problem with Mitt Romney, and why — even if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee — his electability is in doubt. It’s not his religion, his so-called moderate views on many issues, or even his reputation for fibbing and flip-flopping.
Romney’s real shortcoming is that he can’t relate to everyday Americans. He doesn’t understand their concerns or vulnerabilities or worries because the lives they’re living bear no resemblance to his own. It’s one thing to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth, and it’s another to have been saddled with a 20-piece set of sterling flatware.
Moreover, unlike other wealthy politicians who have been able to connect with the average voter (i.e., Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy), Romney does a terrible job of disguising the fact that he can’t relate because he makes two mistakes.
One is robotically holding back details of his personal life that could help him connect with voters. With few exceptions, Romney rarely talks about his family, faith, values, childhood, parents, hopes, fears or favorite color. How can you expect voters to relate to you if you don’t give them a basis to make a connection?
The second mistake is that Romney always seems to say the wrong thing. Every time he tries to close the gap with voters by throwing out a joke or glib comment, he only makes it wider.
This past week in New Hampshire, Romney insisted that he knew what it was like to worry about being fired and claimed that, on his way up the corporate ladder, “there were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.”
One imagines that even if this had happened, the Romneys — who likely had a strong safety net of savings and stocks — would not have been destitute.
We don’t know what happened to the countless people who were laid off during Romney’s high-flying career of buying and selling companies with the Bain Capital investment firm. But we do know that Romney likes firing people, thanks to a clumsy offhand comment the candidate made in New Hampshire. In discussing health insurance, Romney centered in on a customer’s ability to get rid of an insurer or health care provider and joked: “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.”
Romney says his words were taken out of context, and he’s got a point about that. But so what? The remarks are problematic. If Romney’s the nominee, you can bet that we’ll see that clip again in an Obama television ad.
In fact, there is plenty of material. A few months ago in Florida, Romney told voters that he understands those who are out of work because he’s “also unemployed”; but a personal fortune estimated at $250 million sure beats unemployment benefits. Then, to prove he was right on a point about health care, he bet Texas Gov. Rick Perry $10,000 — an amount that many Americans would consider out of reach. And in October, Romney callously suggested that the way to clean up the housing market was to speed up foreclosures so that people lose their homes sooner.
What a dumb thing to say. Yet it’s easy to do when your idea of a little remodeling is bulldozing a $12.5 million beachfront house in La Jolla, Calif., so you can replace it with a mansion more than three times the size. Oh, and where did Romney make those boneheaded comments about foreclosures? He was speaking to the editorial board of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, apparently oblivious to the fact that Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation.
And this is the best the GOP has to offer? No wonder three-fourths of Republican voters haven’t warmed up to the presumptive nominee. According to a new CBS poll, 58 percent of Republican primary voters say they are unhappy with the GOP candidates for president, while just 37 percent are satisfied with the choices.
Mitt Romney says he likes firing people. But what most Republicans seem to be saying is that they would just as soon fire the whole bunch — including Mitt Romney.
Ruben Navarrette’s email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.
