The 'Shut up and trust me' Candidate.

I was attempting to save this for a later post, but in light of recent events (specifically a leaked video making the rounds) I feel it is necessary to discuss the current republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. For those of you who have yet to see the video, I'll happily share this little gem.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/watch-full-secret-video-private-romney-fundraiser

In this video, Romney makes a series of statements probably not meant for the ear of the general public. These ranged from suggesting the election process would be easier for him if he were Latino, to making bold statements claiming forty seven percent of Americans (the ones who do not pay income tax) cannot be made to take "personal responsibility" for their own lives. Now despite the obviously demeaning nature of the statements and the rather false implications that nearly half of Americans don't pay taxes, I find this video disturbing for much different reasons.

There is an overused term, "flip flopping," which is generally pulled out to describe political candidates who have changed positions on various issues. I think the term is unnecessarily condescending, as it demonizes the evolution of thought or changes of opinion as more facts are brought to light. That being said, there is a concern when as an electorate, voters are unable to understand the positions of the candidate they are attempting to familiarize themselves with. This is probably my biggest concern with Mitt Romney.

In the video Romney makes brash, poorly edited comments, but the scariest part of all is we as a people have no idea how he actually feels about any of them. Romney may or may not believe rape victims should be allowed to have abortions. He may or may not believe that insurance companies should not be allowed to discriminate based on preexisting conditions. Romney has become a blank canvas of a candidate, constantly attempting to be the man his perceived "audience" wants him to be. His campaign has even directly reflected this notion with a refusal to put forward a budget plan, even while running on an economic and budget balancing platform. He has become so afraid of his own opinion and the repercussion of having one based on evidence, values, and thought that he has simply condemned himself to not having one.

That is the biggest fear of all: what will be the consequences of electing a president with no stance of his own?  Romney is not the next Bush as some seem to assert based on his business bravado platform. President Bush may have had issues, but Mitt Romney will likely be an entirely different story altogether. After campaigning for the better part of the last seven years it is hard to see a scenario in which Mitt Romney stops. I do not believe the issue here is electing a man who's wealthy upbringing and life have left him disconnected from society in a fundamentally damaging way (although I believe that may also be true). I believe the danger is electing a man who will be too afraid of choices to make any.

In summary, I would love to believe Mitt Romney is actually a reasonable, moderate conservative candidate who is pandering to the far right because modern political discourse has left him no choice (an issue I will get to in a blog latter this week I promise, and yes I'm looking at you Fox), but I can't. Romney is asking us as a people to elect him on faith. Not only faith that he will be a president who supports and understands the view of all citizens, but a candidate who supports anything at all. Romney's campaign has not only been void of fact checking, it has been void of substance at all, and I see something deeply troubling in electing the president of the United States on the 'shut up and trust me' platform.

As always, comment or message with thoughts or critiques.

Chris