Mitt vs. biz distrust

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Mitt Romney has built his political career -- and his claim to the presidency -- on his success as a businessman. His experience at Bain Capital, the Republican nominee insists, has given him a grasp of the private economy and a skill at job creation that uniquely qualify him for high office in these troubled times. In his acceptance speech Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, Romney went even further, not just asserting the value of his own entrepreneurial experience, but also declaring that the lack of experience running a business practically disqualified his opponent. President Obama, Romney said, “took office without the basic qualification that most Americans have and one that was essential to his task. He had almost no experience working in a business.”

Romney’s suggestion that only business owners should occupy the White House was hardly surprising; it just reinforced the reverence for builders of small businesses manifested in the Republican gathering in Tampa. But it is a curious claim nonetheless. For most of the nation’s history, lawyers, educators and military men have dominated the roster of American presidents. Voters often questioned the public spiritedness of business leaders, looking to the White House less to unleash the energy of the free market than to shield them against its vicissitudes. Romney’s campaign embodies a recent, and very different, model of presidential leadership.

Salon.com > Bruce Schulman

Mitt vs. biz distrust