Begin With the End in Mind - A Texan's View on Romney

One thing is certain about this fall. Republicans must enthusiastically unite behind the Republican nominee in order to defeat Barack Obama and prevent a second and more devastating term of office. For many of us Mass. Governor Mitt Romney was not the first, second or even third choice for the Republican Nomination. However, we have had a long primary season, testing and vetting a wide variety of candidates. It appears at this point that Gov. Romney will earn the necessary delegates to win the nomination.

If for no other reason than to keep Obama from nominating one more Supreme Court Justice which would change the balance of power in the court for up to a generation, we must make certain there is a Republican in the White House come 2013.

Earlier this week, I wrote an article about some things Romney must do in order to defeat Obama in November.  The article discusses the need to capture the Independent Vote and the Latino Vote.

One of the fun things about blogging is the opportunity to meet many of the TexasGOPVote readers - either in person or on Facebook.  One of those readers got on my case last fall about why TexasGOPVote had not written a pro-Romney article. I pointed out we have a wide variety of writers and opinions expressed on our site and encouraged him to write something he believed best supports the reasons to vote for Romney. For some reason, he did not submit that article at the time, but I have asked for it again after a recent discussion about a Texas GOP Presidential Debate. Here are his comments...

 

Begin With the End in Mind

By Chuck Wright, Frisco Texas Republican


A great quote from Steven Covey that has a tremendous meaning as we decide who will win the GOP nomination to be our Presidential candidate. The end goal should be defeating Obama in the fall. That seems to have gotten lost with many GOPers. Whomever we elect to represent the GOP will need to deal with two pressing issues. First, that candidate must be able to defeat Barack Obama, which will be no small feat since he has the media on his side, enjoys a huge war chest funded by billionaires who seem to hate America, and he is helping create a new army of people dependent on the public dole. The second even taller challenge is to right the wrongs of the last 20 years, exacerbated by the policies of the past 3 years. We have 4 candidates left standing from the near dozen who began. My choice is to find and back the most qualified candidate with the best chance of accomplishing both those goals; defeat Obama, which isn’t the same as winning the GOP nod and fixing the country over the next 4 years.

Since few know me, I should explain that after graduating from UT@ San Antonio with a degree in economics, I spent almost a decade as a US Marine Corps pilot. While at UTSA I was elected to student government and was active in Texas on Ronald Reagan’s campaign against Carter. The Marine Corps is a place where leadership is far more than some conveniently tossed about buzz word. Furthermore, as a pilot, I was trained to be a pragmatic and logical thinker, a problem solver. This probably explains why Stephen Covey’s quote resonates so loudly with me. Identify the problem then build a plan to fix it. Much like the majority of the country, my view is that the #1 problem in America today is the economy. Fix the economy and the other problems begin to fall into line or at least have a chance to be solved. The economy is not our only challenge but it is the largest we face today. Pilots can’t get to their destination if they don’t have enough fuel.

So how do you determine which of our 4 remaining candidates will best resolve those problems and lead us back to prosperity. My vetting starts with the 3 C’s, a commitment to the cause, the clarity of vision to see the destination and the moral courage to make the right choices which lead us to that destination. We have a serious problem in our nation, and we need leaders with proven track records of results not just rhetoric. 

We begin by looking at Mitt’s track record of business success. Mitt Romney is both an American and a capitalist success story. Not only is Mitt’s business record outstanding, but he understands the economy and economic principles at a fundamentally deep level.  He has rebuilt or started from scratch hundreds of business. This is a strong reason he enjoys the support of so many rock solid conservatives like Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Mike Lee and Congressman Paul Ryan to name just a few.  The attack on Mitt’s business success was based on the idea that Mitt/Bain were corporate raiders, laying off employees and stripping away business assets.  The reality is just the opposite.  The vast majority of the businesses Mitt/Bain touched are still in business today and they have created more than a quarter of a million real jobs for America.  Neither Bain nor Mitt were Gordon Gecko no matter how hard Ted Kennedy tried to portray it that way and frankly it was a tad embarrassing to see GOP candidates attacking capitalism.

Step two is evaluating executive experience. One of the pros for Mitt is his running of the highly successful Winter Olympic Games in 2006.  Mitt Romney took a disaster and turned it into the model that all Winter Games to try to pattern.  It made money, it helped Salt Lake City with needed infrastructure and it cleaned up our corrupt Olympic committee, restoring American pride while setting the standard for Olympic game performance.

But Mitt’s accomplishments don’t stop there.  Let’s examine Mitt’s success as a 4 year governor of the most liberal state in the nation. Again, he inherits a mess. A state in financial disarray and running a deficit. Over 4 years, Mitt would cut taxes, cut spending, and kill the deficit. He left the state with a near billion dollar rainy day fund.  Now some counter “but he raised fees and closed loopholes to do it”.  Yes he did and good for him. Congressman Paul Ryan was quoted just this past week when he discussed closing tax loopholes. Loopholes are tricks people use to avoid paying the taxes they owe. The fees Mitt raised had not been adjusted for inflation in over a decade and I would argue that fees are the fairest tax we can charge. They are only paid by those who use government services, not subsidized by all tax payers. Last I checked cutting taxes, cutting spending and shrinking the size of government were key tenants of Reagan Republicans, of governing as a conservative.  

Moving on to Constitutional issues, let us not forget that while Massachusetts had an 85% liberal house, Mitt was able to improve the Second Amendment rights of her citizens. He was able to make it easier for Massachusetts residents to purchase and use guns in a move that was lauded by both the NRA and the even more conservative Gun Owners of America. While on the topic of voting, not unlike Reagan, Mitt flirted with a Pro Choice stance at one point in his life. However when push came to shove and Mitt had to take action he voted  (or signed/ vetoed if semantics are your thing) 100% Pro Life.   Yes, years ago his wife did give $100 to Planned Parenthood at a fund raiser.  In the grand scheme, Mitt taking the principled stance that would be very unpopular with many from his state speaks volumes to me about Mitt’s real character.   He didn’t ‘take one for the team’ but rather stood for TRUE conservative values

But you counter, “what about ROMNEY CARE?” If Mitt wasn’t 100% committed to ending ObamaCare, that argument would have merit and it alone would flip my opinion.  Since Mitt’s stance is to end that joke of a bill, the point is moot, a red herring nothing more.  

Now I will leave the worst for last. Many do not want to admit it openly but there is a strong backlash to Mitt’s religion. Sorry, I just don’t understand that one coming from the party of personal freedom and responsibility. But if that is your issue, I will not try to change your opinion but for the record, I am not a member of his church. 

I will simply say that my support has everything to do with Mitt’s overall track record, his tremendous success in both public and private arenas and the family first life he has lead. No candidate can match Mitt’s record as either an executive or in business. Since I fully expect Mitt to name rising star Senator Marco Rubio as his running mate, I see this as a ticket which can not only rally the base but also can make the difference winning key swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin. In closing, it should be clear I have been on Mitt Romney’s bandwagon for some time. 

Yep, just like Rick Santorum, I thought Mitt was the right choice in 2008 and nothing has changed to sway that opinion in the past 4 years. If the objective is to beat Obama, then it is time to rally the party and Mitt Romney is the best candidate to do that.

About the Author:

Chuck is a certified financial planner for Eagle Strategies from Frisco, Texas. He helps his clients in creating and protecting real wealth with an eye to minimizing taxes and creating tax free income. Chuck is a graduate of UT San Antonio.  Politically, he considers himself to be "slightly to right of Attilla the Hun".  Chuck served his country honorably as a pilot in the United States Marine Corp.  

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