Is this man afraid of his own past?
Romney the Unknowable
By TIMOTHY EGAN, NYT
Ten days from now, some of the world's best-paid magicians of image and narrative will unveil a reboot of a most unfathomable man, Willard Mitt Romney, a 2012 model with a shelf life of barely two months.
The Republican National Convention will mark the fourth time in 18 years, dating to a losing Senate race in 1994, that a Team Romney has tried to construct a Brand Romney. This problem of who he is, Romney acknowledged last year, has plagued him ever since he became a public figure.
In focus groups, he's described as a tin man, a shell, an empty suit, vacuous, a multimillionaire in mom jeans. And that's from supporters.
At the convention, you can expect to hear high praise for a virtuous, disciplined, loyal person of family and faith. You will surely hear the words "turnaround" and "no apology" - both titles of platitudinous and unread books by Romney - in defense of his business acumen and unshakable view of American exceptionalism.
But I doubt you will hear anything of the real Romney because he is afraid of his own past. His life - even with prep school privilege in Bloomfield Hills, the draft-avoiding refuges of mission work in Paris and business school at Harvard, a founding role at Bain Capital from a mentor who guaranteed he would never fail financially or professionally - is not without drama.
(More here.)
By TIMOTHY EGAN, NYT
Ten days from now, some of the world's best-paid magicians of image and narrative will unveil a reboot of a most unfathomable man, Willard Mitt Romney, a 2012 model with a shelf life of barely two months.
The Republican National Convention will mark the fourth time in 18 years, dating to a losing Senate race in 1994, that a Team Romney has tried to construct a Brand Romney. This problem of who he is, Romney acknowledged last year, has plagued him ever since he became a public figure.
In focus groups, he's described as a tin man, a shell, an empty suit, vacuous, a multimillionaire in mom jeans. And that's from supporters.
At the convention, you can expect to hear high praise for a virtuous, disciplined, loyal person of family and faith. You will surely hear the words "turnaround" and "no apology" - both titles of platitudinous and unread books by Romney - in defense of his business acumen and unshakable view of American exceptionalism.
But I doubt you will hear anything of the real Romney because he is afraid of his own past. His life - even with prep school privilege in Bloomfield Hills, the draft-avoiding refuges of mission work in Paris and business school at Harvard, a founding role at Bain Capital from a mentor who guaranteed he would never fail financially or professionally - is not without drama.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
1 Comments:
Could Egan possibly be more petty? One would think that Romney is running against a community organizer that 'won' a Nobel Peace prize.
Post a Comment
<< Home