Plenty of Bain to go around

While this blog represents an effort to chart a new course for the Republican Party, it certainly embraces the free market philosophy that unites conservatives of all stripes. It is therefore particularly disturbing to see a field of Republican presidential contenders blast the frontrunner, Mitt Romney, for his role as a facilitator of creative destruction at Bain Capital. Sacrificed in their quest for higher office are core conservative principles, Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment ("Thou shall not criticize other Republicans"), and potentially their party's control of the White House, not to mention the future of this great country.

True, Romney's career as a venture capitalist is both an asset and a vulnerability. His knowledge of how the "real economy" works is a powerful strength against an opponent with no appreciation of free market principles or willingness to surround himself with advisers and cabinet officials who do. However, at a time of persistent unemployment, some of it a product of natural capitalistic phenomena like downsizing and outsourcing, Romney risks being portrayed as the very embodiment of the vilified "one percent" targeted by Occupy Wall Street. His statement this summer in defense of corporations and yesterday in favor of health care choice, while accurate and admirable, speak to the risk/ reward nature of his experiences and political positioning in this presidential cycle.

It goes without saying that Romney anticipated these attacks from President Obama,
but their presence in the early contests of the Republican nominating cycle are
deplorable, and Newt Gingrich et al should be shunned and quickly cast aside by
primary voters as road kill on the path to recapturing the White House. Gingrich is
proving George Will's contention that he would have been a good Marxist correct, and
Rick Perry is sacrificing his credibility as a job creator is the capitalist utopia of Texas as they embrace populist rhetoric to score cheap political points. Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman deserve their own shares of blame for their rhetoric on this front the past couple of days, though it is tame by comparison. Ron Paul deserves kudos for remaining true to his deep commitment to free markets.

Romney's earlier than anticipated test on his past tendency to issue pink slips speaks to his need to massage his messaging immediately. His net job creation retort needs to grow into a broader narrative about the beauty of creative destruction, a hallmark of advanced economies, and in the case of the contemporary United States, economic recovery. Moreover, Washington itself is ripe for a downsize, with the net result of lower taxes and less burdensome regulation yielding high-end private sector job creation.

Romney's almost singular focus on Obama's failed presidency since he launched his
campaign is on target. He would be wise to fine-tune his rhetoric and framing of his
private sector career in the "real economy." Reagan faced a similar predicament in 1980 when he challenged a personally popular Democratic incumbent with an anemic economic record. Substituting Obama for Carter in his famous quote, Romney can borrow the Gipper's opening salvo for the general election: "When your neighbor loses his job, it's a recession. When you lose yours, it's a depression. The recovery begins when Barack Obama loses his."