Two Romney Problems Clash: Elitism Versus Tin Ear Syndrome

Maybe you read about how Gawker had a mole inside Fox News. Well, he got caught and is now public.

On Joe Muto's first post as a Gawker mole, he uploaded a really interesting video of the pre-interview banter between Mitt Romney and Sean Hannity. Take a look at the video at the top of that first blog entry now. Here is an excerpt from Joe Muto's post on that video:

Romney professes his and his wife Ann's well-known love of horseriding, praising the qualities of the "Austrian Warmbloods" that his wife rides -- they are "dressage" horses, he notes -- while maintaining his own preference for the "smoother gait" of his own "Missouri foxtrotter."

Now there's nothing wrong with Mitt and his wife loving horseback riding. But remember this video next time Romney attacks Obama for golfing. The inherent elitism and snootiness of golf is NOTHING compared to competitive horseback riding. And I think Mitt loses points with the GOP base for his correct pronunciation of dressage. To GOP-voter ears it sounds not only gay, but even worse, French.

Watching this video, I felt two contrary and competing emotions: horror and attraction.

Horror, due to Mr. Romney clearly not understanding that he is an elitist and that he comes off as one. I genuinely felt sorry for the guy. There can now be no doubt that he has a Ross Perot-sized tin ear.

Attraction, because I found myself realizing that this video actually shows Mr. Romney as more human than anything I've seen before (and he was my governor for four years). He's sitting around, chewing the fat with Mr. Hannity -- someone he is clearly comfortable with -- talking about his wife and their mutual love of horses.

This simultaneous revulsion and attraction towards Mr. Romney was a new combination for me. The video's release will, of course, only exacerbate Mr. Rommey's elitism problem. If the poor guy could only learn to show a little bit of the normal humanness that he lets out of the lock-box for his Hannity-banter, perhaps he could actually communicate with people.

Perhaps he's so repressed that he purposely keeps everything bottled up inside just so he doesn't come off poorly. If so, that strategy clearly isn't working. My suggestion: spend some time with regular people and try to connect with what they find interesting. You just might find some common ground and seem human. Then again, maybe you really don't have any common ground with regular people. In that case, I can only say, congratulations President Obama, you've been re-elected.

 

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Comments

[MaineSenior]

06:23 PM on 04/12/2012

I don't remember where I first heard this suggestion, but it makes sense to me: How can Mitt Romney be President of all the people when a CEO, the experience he touts, is all about promoting the well-being of his board and stockholders? If others suffer--e.g., workers who lose jobs because he has off-shored the ones they had--, that's not his concern.

[Martin Long]

10:20 AM on 04/13/2012

Mr. Romney's real experience is in Private Equity, which is another level of abstraction away from being a CEO. Take a look at my post on my personal blog (link below) about explaining (a bit) about Private Equity works. (It's really about the tax system, but it covers it). And, I agree, the idea of being a CEO has NOTHING to do with being a governmental leader. They are entirely different things.

http://bornagaindemocrat.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/213/

[Marmashi]

04:09 PM on 04/12/2012

I felt the same as Mr. Long. I felt I was seeing the "Real" Mitt. Someone who is wealthy and loves his world. He actually looked genuine. I did not like what he is, but he looked happy.
I also felt that this shows exactly what is wrong with him. He HAS NO CLUE how most people live. He says he wants to be our leader, but he really just wants to be crowned the KING of the realm. We do not need his kind of leadership. It is all about keeping his world afloat. We need HELP.
Obama 2012

[Canadian Looking In]

03:56 PM on 04/12/2012

My suggestion: spend some time with regular people and try to connect with what they find interesting. You just might find some common ground and seem human. Then again, maybe you really don't have any common ground with regular people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
How can someone who can't connect with "regular people" be an effective leader of the American people?

[Martin Long]

10:16 AM on 04/13/2012

That's kind of my point. Then again, even though he was my governor, and I know people who work at Bain Capital, I've never met him -- so I don't REALLY know.

[Martin Long]

10:18 AM on 04/13/2012

George H.W. Bush was surprised when he went to a grocery store and saw a scanner. Mr. Romney, I think, is more plugged in. But he's also somewhat apart. Now, I must say, I happen to know a few people who are quite wealthy, and I don't see the Romney Problem with them. I think it's a Mr. Romney thing.

[Canadian Looking In]

10:44 AM on 04/13/2012

It's difinately a Romney thing. I know wealthy people who are tuned into the real world too. He just seems to be so disconnected and awkward.

The best contrast that I can think of between Obama and Romney is Obama can so comfortably nail a bar of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" (reviving music sales) and Romney Sings "America the Beautiful".... met with awkward silence.