Oh, no, another gray flannel suit
Sloan Wilson's 1955 novel "The
Man In the Gray Flannel Suit," and the movie the following year
starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones, were hugely popular. Each
provided a jarring and penetrating look at conformity, especially in
the upper echelons of corporate America.
Organizations of all kinds breed
and demand conformity. Regrettably, it's a part of their DNA, and too
frequently it's also a fatal disease.
And when we think about Mitt
Romney, we also think about Bain Capital, the private equity
investment firm that he co-founded a quarter-century ago, which has
enabled him to now have a net worth of about a quarter of a billion
dollars.
Romney is cut from the gray flannel
cloth of corporate conformity. And like so many others cut from that
cloth, he's perceived as bloodless, stodgy, aloof, unfriendly and
unimaginative. Whether these characterizations are accurate or fair
is not the point. And that's because in politics, perceptions are
just as important as reality.
Therefore, it's undeniable that one
of the problems the standoffish Romney faces in his battle with
President Barack Obama is that most Americans like Obama, including
many who don't think he's done a particularly good job as president.
Romney can't change who he is and
how he's perceived. But he can help his campaign enormously,
depending on whom he selects as his running mate. And the Romney
campaign surely knows that it is the underdog in this election. Don't
be fooled by the plethora of national polls that show the two
candidates running neck and neck. They are misleading because the
election is not a national election. It's a state-by-state, trench
warfare election that in fact comes down to a dozen swing states,
including North Carolina.
The winner on Nov. 6 will be the
candidate who can carry most of those states. And the Romney campaign
knows that Obama has the upper hand in a majority of those
battleground states. The president has more pathways that lead to
victory in those states than does Romney. Indeed, the eye of the
needle that Romney must thread is very narrow.
Two of the most important
battleground states are Florida and Ohio. Thus, it's not surprising
that the names you hear mentioned the most for Romney's running mate
are Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. Both of
them are 21st century versions of men in gray flannel suits.
Marco Rubio is 41 and has served in
the Senate since 2010. His parents were immigrants from Cuba. Rubio
has been called the "crown prince" of the tea party. Now,
there is no doubt that Romney must enlarge his support among the
nation's Hispanics if he is to win. And Florida is certainly crucial
in that regard. But putting Rubio on the ticket won't help enough
with the non-Cuban Hispanic vote in battleground states like
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Virginia.
And it's way too late to be focused
on wooing the tea party vote. To win, Romney must appeal to
independents and suburban women. Furthermore, Romney should be able
to carry Florida without Rubio. If he can't, you can turn off the TV
and go to bed. It's over.
Now, Ohio is a different kettle of
fish. Frankly, I can't see a way for Romney to defeat the president
if he doesn't carry the Buckeye State. And Obama leads in Ohio. He's
being helped by his bailout of the auto industry, which Romney
opposed. That's why Sen. Portman is the putative front-runner in the
veep stakes.
Portman, 57, was elected to the
Senate in 2010 after having been a seven-term congressman from
Cincinnati. He grew up in his father's business, the Portman
Equipment Co. Portman is seasoned, competent, but as buttoned down as
they come. His political philosophy is grounded in entrepreneurship.
His ability to reach out to working class and independent voters is
limited.
And he comes from the most reliably
Republican part of Ohio — Cincinnati. To carry Ohio, Romney must be
competitive in the middle- and working class suburbs north of
Columbus, in places like Toledo, Akron, Cleveland and Youngstown.
Romney needs to break the mold with
his choice for vice president. That man is Gov. Chris Christie of New
Jersey. Christie is articulate, flamboyant, a risk taker, a straight
talker and, most importantly, a man who is understood and trusted by
working class Americans. In addition, putting Christie on the ticket
will put solidly blue New Jersey "in play." It's unlikely
Romney will carry the Garden State, but putting Christie on the
ticket will force the Democrats to compete in Jersey. And that will
cost them heavily because the television advertising they will have
to buy will come out of New York City and Philadelphia. And those
markets are exceedingly expensive.
Moreover, Christie wants the job.
Win or lose in November, he'll be next in line for the GOP
presidential nomination. The question is whether Romney can think
beyond his buttoned-down collar and his gray flannel suit.
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