Mitt Romney is
like all the rest. His slogan—"We can do better"—has been used by generations of
vanilla moderates trying to ride tigers.
He’s not weird; he’s typical.
In 1972, Progressive Conservatives in Canada used the same
promise to market Robert Stanfield, a thoughtful red Tory leading a party
energized by right-wingers who loathed their Liberal opponent, Pierre Trudeau.
Hate, however, is a dumb election message to use against a popular
incumbent. "We can do better" permits you to look
positive and seethe at the same time. (RLS very nearly won.)
Romney has a similar problem with his base and shows a
similar shrewd ambition. Republicans will go along with "better," but in their
hearts they'll hope for "less."
Americans, however, who have believed for two centuries that "better" means actually doing
things—only more effectively—shouldn’t be too sure this time.
Romney can’t win a mandate to radically cut the federal
government with such a honeyed slogan. Furthermore, his aides already wink: since
no one will read the Republican platform, no one should worry that Romney will
be governed by it.
Nevertheless, Romney is a corporate man and his latest corporation
wants to dominate all three branches of the US government and progressively
shrink their place in the US federation.
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