Just in case you missed the GOP Presidential debate, Mitt Romney is apparently a big fan of hockey. He even took out some time from the important proceedings to give a score update.
I was able to catch up with Mitt on the campaign trail in New Hampshire at a local tavern private club where we shared a few beers drinks. Mitt prefers Arnold Palmers, for some reason, while I stick to my summer drink of Bombay Sapphire™ and tonic. Feels wrong not drinking a single malt while watching hockey but the mercury has risen above 65º F, 18.3ºC for the socialists in the audience. A man has to have some rules in this world.
Follow below the fold for some notes about my evening with the would-be Republican presidential nominee, Governor Goodhair.
As we settle into a comfortable leather booth with an open view of the flatscreen television, Romney visibly relaxes. The whole room is a study in wood tones. Maple paneling. Oak tables and bar. I feel like I'm on the set of Cheers or, more exactly, the snooty restaurant upstairs from Cheers.
12:33 1st period - Tim Thomas makes a spectacular save of a Canuck shot.
Romney: Wow, that was a wicked googly! That's what you say, right?
I ask the governor how long he has been a fan of the game. He replies that he has been following the Bruins since he was a kid. It's just some sort of weird coincidence that he would wind up in Massachusetts as governor many years later. When asked who his favorite players were as a kid, Romney pauses before replying, "Ken Dryden, hell of a slapshot, that guy. Tremendous American. Man of the people."
I asked the governor how he felt about Dryden's Ivy League pedigree. "Harvard man. Didn't know that." I didn't have the heart to tell him that Dryden won the 1967 Division 1 title for Cornell, or that he was a Canadian, and a goalie.
10:43 1st period - Romney: I don't get it, why did they stop playing?
Icing? There's gonna be cake?!?
Romney grows silent as the action progresses. He seems slightly uncomfortable, as if his mind is consumed by the long day's campaigning. He only takes the occasional sip of his drink and doesn't seem to notice the bridge mix on the table.
8:00 1st period - I like that guy Recchi. True American hero.
I try to discuss the governor's performance at the debate on Monday. Romney is pensive. He knows that the MSM gave him the win. He seems comfortable, confident. Mostly, he shares platitudes about the other candidates. Gingrich a real nice guy, Santorum a family man, Bachman one tough cookie.
6:11 1st period - Romney: Why isn't that icicng?
5:51 1st period - Romney: Why is that icing and the other thing wasn't.
Damn Canadians and their Socialist games. Did
you know their football fields are longer and
wider too?
Romney spends some time talking about the virtues of the game: honest, hard hitting, no room on the ice to hide. "You're just out there, man. No one to help you out," he says. "It's a great parable for the American economy. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and all that."
5:23 1st period - Bruins score
Romney: Touchdown!!!
The volume in the room grows noticeably but I would hesitate to call it a racket. These are serious people, more interested in the Bruins' stock price than win/loss record. Still, they know they should be happy, so they are.
0:00 1st period - Romney: Halftime! Wait/what? Intermission? What is this?
Some kind of art film or something?
During the stoppage in play, the governor spends most of his time on the phone with aides and donors. I would share the details but there was honestly nothing of interest to repeat. Seriously, you think this guy is dry on the stump? Try meeting him in person.
13:48 2nd period - the announcers mention the shift change
Romney: The shift change? These guys are
millionaires. You'd think that there would be a
better way to put that.
This leads me to think about the Governor's plan to create jobs. I ask him about his feelings on the recent joblessness statistics. Romney stumbles into an answer that involves lower taxes, small business owners, and international competition. I have heard toddlers make more sense out of Descartes.
11:02 2nd period - the Canucks are unable to convert an opportunity
Romney: That's just great defense right there.
Way to go boys.
The comment strikes me as poignant. Of course a man who was born to wealth and privilege would think that anything good that happens for him is the result of his own hard work. I ask the governor if he played Little League as a child. "Of course," he says,"played third base."
Of course he did.
8:22 2nd period - Romney: I still don't get this icing thing.
7:46 2nd period - Bruins score again
2:12 2nd period - a Bruins goal is upheld after a lengthy review
Romney: Well that ought to clinch . Not enough time left for
them to catch up now. Game's almost over.
At that, the governor decides to pack it in. He claims that it has been a long day and that he needs some rest. I thank him for the time.
He leaves me with the check.
That is the story of how I spent Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals with Mitt Romney. I feel like I have a much better understanding of the man now. Seems like a nice enough guy, just a little out of touch, just a little slow to catch on to the fact that the world as he sees it doesn't quite jibe with the one the rest of us live in.
All in all, I find myself wondering how he would handle the responsibilities of the office. I mean, just handling the visits from all of the winners of the various sports championships would seem to be too much for him to handle.
After all, what hockey fan doesn't know that Ken Dryden was a goalie. Or Canadian.
I can forgive him for not knowing that Dryden played "far above Cayuga's waters".
Barely.