Chris Christie, 2020—Should he live that long

One of the glories of America is that you can have an ego as big as Manhattan and live in New Jersey.

Writing about the Republican convention, in the Fashion and Style section of the Sunday Times, Mark Leibovich details Chris Christie’s second-biggest weight problem—being constantly pestered to run for president.

“People started asking Mr. Christie to run for president. You might remember this, and in case you did not, Mr. Christie was not shy about providing refresher courses last week, usually in the form of ostentatious exasperation at how no one took his denials of interest in seeking the presidency seriously.

“‘After the 87th time I said I wasn’t running for president, they finally believed me,’ Mr. Christie told the delegates of South Carolina—a state that, Mr. Christie points out, had its own effort to draft Mr. Christie into the presidential race last year.”

Leibovich continues grimly:

“Now two days after his keynote, he is still getting questions about it, specifically the 'all about Chris' critique. 'I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my future will always be speculated about,' Mr. Christie said as sweat glistened from his forehead. 'Even if Mitt Romney wins on Nov. 6, as I expect him to, people will start speculating about 2020 then, O.K.?'”

Seems we have to follow the fashion and style sections as well as the late-night comedy shows to appreciate, before it’s too late, who in politics is of sound mind and who is a delusional egomaniac. 

Obama’s stump speech is too easy on Romney

The lamest hypocrisy at Romney’s convention was the sad-eyed talk about America’s lost illusions about Barack Obama. Do you remember those warm dreams Republicans shared with innocent swing voters on that starry night?  

For Democratic partisans, it was exhilarating to win again, whatever was in store. Sober Republicans also slept well knowing they’d wake up free of responsibility for fixing a metastasizing national calamity.

However, we should well remember that there was nothing gleeful or boundlessly optimistic about Obama that night. For many of us, he sounded as wary in victory as his inspiration, Abraham Lincoln, was in 1860.

What made that night inspiring and what Republicans still can’t honor was what had happened that day at the polls. That victory can’t be undone by what’s happened since, or by the Tea Party, the Super-Pacs, and a vengeful Republican restoration this November.

These days, Obama’s stump speech contains its own miscalculation about how to use the past to win the future.

Over and over, he completes his rebuttal of the Republican economic alternative with a sigh: “The thing is, we tried that before and it didn’t work.” Last weekend, in Ohio, he reinforced his complaint by describing the Republican platform as “tired, old ideas” and their convention as best-watched “in black and white.”

This in itself is tiring and, more important, counterproductive. Obama isn’t going to scare any but a handful of old faithful Keynesians by describing Romney’s prescriptions as passé. Buyer remorse over George Bush has been crowded out by fear about what could happen next.

Obama won’t scare necessary voters by describing the Republican alternative as an old shoe. And that would be a huge missed opportunity. Scaring Americans elected waves of Republican radicals in 2010. Scaring Americans could re-elect a moderate president this fall.

Gentle souls: hope is packaging; fear is what caught up with America in 2008 and 2010, and fear is what is driving American politics today.

Move on, Obama. "Forward" is not your option; it’s inescapable. Your opponent isn’t gambling with the past, but with the future. Your opponent isn’t a naïf from business, with a weak memory. He’s making political commitments that would make both Bushes blush. His reckless public record as a presidential candidate deserves greater personal attention.

Romney did not lift a finger to strengthen the hand of Republican moderates during the debt crisis last year. Romney has bolstered the extreme, essentially obstructionist “no tax” pledge of Grover Norquist. In every speech, he makes it more difficult politically for the federal government to operate a more affordable national defense and reform entitlements. He seems to buy the argument that hastening a managed national bankruptcy will make things better.

When Romney had a chance to strengthen his own moderate tendencies and his party’s dying moderate wing, he picked as his running mate a tear-it-down-and-see-what-happens extremist.

If Romney has the nerve in the upcoming debates to suggest that Obama should’ve listened more respectfully to Bill Clinton and old-school Democrats, Obama should point out that Romney could have put any number of genuine moderate pragmatists on his ticket, including Gov. Jeb Bush.

Obama, of course, needn’t get glassy-eyed about the Bush years.

George Bush, along with dozens of congressional Democrats, was too optimistic about tax cuts, cost-effective foreign wars, and unstoppable economic growth. Mitt Romney, however, doesn’t have any of Bush’s excuses.  

George Bush insisted that he was a compassionate conservative and promised—and delivered—greater support for education. Romney and his platform turn compassion into a boast, an obligation that can be assigned, no strings attached, to others to express.

People who refuse to learn from experience aren’t conservatives or reactionaries; they’re adventures. Obama’s moderation shines by comparison.

Romney knows how to fire you

Firing subordinates is the rite of passage for managers in Mitt Romney’s real world. Last night, Republican leaders and convention choreographers impeccably executed that part of their plan—to put the American Dream back on the tracks.

"Humanizing" Romney for the prime time "termination" of Barack Obama was predictable, utterly standard practice, not some hack’s concoction.

In a convention hall full of bosses, their spouses and suppliers, Romney showed real skill; he followed a script he knew inside out. There are rules for the firer, and he played by the rules:

One: If the change will affect the culture of the whole organization, establish that you are as nice and as good-hearted as your victim.

Romney and his planners didn’t hurry this part of the process. After watching hours of testimonials and film footage on Romney’s piety and philanthropy, I’d guess that even Obama must have started wondering whether he would have done more good for the "least amongst us" if he joined a Mormon-friendly investment bank rather than working as a community organizer after Harvard.

Two: Keep the message killingly simple; don’t try out any arguments or qualifiers that could open up a conversation or lead to a wrongful dismissal suit.

On this point, there was nothing quirky or exceptional about Clint Eastwood’s foreshadowing. Sounding a little out of touch and closed-minded, with the confidence of a man with a handgun, provides extra shock and awe to the core message: “You failed to fix it; we got to let you go.”

Three: Gently suggest how the victim could learn from the experience. This is tricky (see above). The victim might start in about the mess he’d cleaned up and the terrible advice he’d rejected.

Romney performed this part with genuine relish, telling Obama that an inspiring president doesn’t blame others and shows “more backbone” to Iran and the Russians.

Four: Don’t share any confidences about what you’re going to do after he’s gone. You don’t have to tell him anything now.

On this final point, Romney may be a bit ahead of himself. The shareholders, in this process, actually get to ratify his plan to change leaders in November.

Last night’s speech may have left good number shareholders with a few qualms. For instance:

What’s this new line: “I’ll not raise taxes on the middle class”? Did he just throw the Romney-Ryan tax/reform package under the bus?

And how can you promise to create 12 million jobs while spending less money? Not cutting taxes? And not depreciating the dollar? Are you suggesting that making pretty speeches from the White House actually will do the trick?