This should not come as a surprise to regular readers.
I considered very seriously all of the other top-tier candidates, and found that a couple of them could easily have earned my support.
Fred Thompson has an impeccable voting record; he also has a background as a prosecutor of some distinction, and those two qualities are attractive. On a personal level, he veritably oozes "gravitas," and brought to the debates he was awake for a distinct sense of seriousness and deep-thought that never devolved into "scripting." I have no doubts that, as a President, he would have been able to command and hold the attention of the nation, and be seen as someone to be reckoned with by foreigners.
Rudy Giuliani has an amazingly good history. From being a prosecutor who took on the mafia, to being a mayor of the "most ungovernable city in the world" and turning it around, to his poise and command in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, he has proven again and again his courage and his ability to get things done. He also commands a deep well of respect and admiration from the American public that he could have used very effectively were he President.
Unfortunately, neither of them ran a good--or an even competent--campaign. Fred never quite seemed to even want the job, from his too-long delayed announcement of intent, to his less-than-grueling campaign schedule, he was never able to convince people that he really meant to be President. And Giuliani's Florida Strategy has, obviously, been proven wrong. You can't stay out of the headlines for weeks at a time and hope to bring people over to your side.
And what of John McCain? Um, . . . just read a little of this blog. Ditto Mike Huckabee.
Which leaves Mitt Romney. And that is NOT to say that Romney is my pick by process of elimination. On the contrary, I believe that the next decade will see the world absolutely transformed, as the War of Islamic Jihad moves to new fronts and sees new strategems, as the old dichotomies of East/West and First World/Third World get replaced by Connected/Disconnected, as the world turns its ingenuity to new forms of energy and new means of communication, and a host of other changes we haven't even conceived of yet. And the qualities of the man that I want at the helm for events such as these are intellect, eloquence, temperance, and the sort of facile thinking that grasps the swirl of events and takes a hold of them. Those are all qualities that I perceive in Gov. Mitt Romney.
Romney's background as a successful businessman, transforming businesses and putting companies on the cutting edge of the economy would be invaluable in the next ten years. His experience resurrecting the Salt Lake City Olympics has demonstrated an ability to grasp the intractable and turn it into success. And his experience as governor has given him the sort of Executive political experience that the country looks to in its leadership. Mitt Romney strikes me as the sort of man who is deliberate in his thinking, who likes to know where all the pieces are on the board, and who is creative in his application of power to make systems work. These are perilous times, indeed, but these are also the times that make men--and nations--significantly greater if they understand the opportunity inherent in the danger. Mitt Romney has the unusual capacity to do just that.
I will be enthusiastically caucusing for Mitt Romney on Tuesday night. | |
