Can we all agree that all the talk about running the country like a business would be better supported if campaigns run by CEOs were doing better? Meg Whitman, Linda McMahon, and now Mitt R$ have all provided us with reasons to believe that no, the country should be run by people who want government to work like a government. To protect those in need, to provide infrastructure and its upkeep, to be in service to as many people as possible. How can a CEO, whose main job is to make a company profitable, often at any cost, often to the financial benefit of only a very few, even understand the concept of turning that energy outward toward the real, actual, life-changing benefit of others?
I don't have a tv so I followed the updates on DKos the last few nights. Granted, what I was reading is mostly biased and not impartial, but the convention just sounded so amateurish. The only excitement they could generate was with punctuation: Mitt! Still not feeling it. The goal was to showcase a humanized ready-to-be-president R$. The goal was not met. I saw more activity in the press and on Twitter about Ryan's lies and Eastwood's speech, and the horrible treatment of the CNN camerawoman, Ms. Patricia Carroll. And here's a headline at Yahoo News: "First since '52: No talk of war in GOP speech" (http://news.yahoo.com/...). No mention of the troops, by a member of the party that trumpets their love for our military (or maybe it's just for the military contractors)? From (http://thehill.com/...):
The White House and President Obama's campaign are criticizing Mitt Romney for not mentioning the troops in his convention address Thursday night.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said he was surprised Romney didn't mention troops in Afghanistan, while the Obama campaign knocked the GOP candidate for not finding the time to talk about the troops during a 45-minute address that closed the GOP convention.
I haven't even touched on all the shortcomings of the GOP and its nominee in the campaign so far, and I think there will be more to see over the next several weeks. But all in all, we have proof that a CEO is not automatically better at campaigning than a community organizer, or any passionate believer in the benefits of an effective government. And that if you can't inspire a majority of voters, who aren't trying to get on your good side like subordinate employees, but want someone who will do good and great things for this country, you should just go back to the boardroom.