... or so they say. He makes the most boneheaded marketing errors, so I'm not sure about the whole thing.
Left Coast Rebel has the round up on Mittens' latest foray into the world of Edsel and New Coke. Ohio governor John Kasich is trying to face down the public employee unions whose pensions and contracts are threatening to do to Ohio what they did to Rhode Island. There's a controversial and unpopular ballot initiative that Kasich is supporting which tries to bring some fiscal sanity to Ohio. When questioned, Mitt refused to support it.
Huh?
Mitt's biggest problem is that he is seen as a spineless worm, someone full of blather, but not full of fight. Here was a chance to flex his biceps without any risk at all. The general election voters would never know or remember his support for the initiative, but the primary voters, particularly the Tea Party and punditry zealots, noticed it immediately. It was another wimp-out by Mittens.
Mr. Capitalism had a chance to deal with his biggest marketing problem for free and he didn't understand his own marketing problems enough to take it. I don't think he's the business genius everyone says he is.
Over at Ricochet, they're going bonkers against Mitt as well. I think a lot of big name Republicans stayed out of the race for fear of Mitt and his "organization" and money. I don't think it will be too long before they smack their foreheads in anguish, realizing that Mitt is nothing more than inert material, going nowhere. You can effectively remove his 23% support from the polls and use the rest to figure out who is going to win the nomination. Chris Christie, in particular, really blew it.
This is kind of related to something a friend just pointed me to today:
ReplyDeleteThe hazards of confidence.
It's a bit long, but basically it is about the problem that the people who most think that they know what they are doing, are generally the least competent. I'm afraid that Romney may fall in the category of not being as competent as he thinks he is.
We are comparing two things here. No doubt he is a successful businessman. He has a lot of money and has run and rescued enterprises and the Olympics. But I don't think he's a politician of any sort.
ReplyDeleteManagers manage, direct or order. Politicians cajole, wheedle and deal. They sell themselves every day. This guy is clueless and has poor marketing skills. He has no consistent message. He's kinda tone deaf. And I don't trust him one bit. Like Barry, he's a wimp.
Thanks for the link! Will link back.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Mitt is that he's a panderer. I say that not as someone who wants Mitt to fail, but as someone who wants the GOP to beat Obama and undo some of his damage.
There was a time when I thought Mitt was just fine. And in 2008, he might have been adequate. But in the post-Obama era we will need a president who instinctively understands the danger of government and who can rise above the level of poll-based pandering to voters who are barely paying attention.
Mitt is not the man for the job.