But this post today relates to the Olympics only peripherally. I was reading Sean Trende’s piece the other day on Real Clear Politics, and he observed (with plenty of data, which he always provides) that the race is always about the incumbent. If the incumbent’s time in office is unacceptable, then it’s about whether the challenger is acceptable.
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| Mitt Romney heading 2002 Winter Olympics AP photo/Joe Cavaretta |
People have already decided about Obama—and it’s negative among anyone who might change their vote from last time. So the question at this point is not about Obama; it’s about Romney. And people are only just beginning to tune in to pay attention. Surprising to those of us who have paid attention all along, and particularly to those of us who have been learning about Romney since the early 90s, people don’t know him yet.
Ads against Obama (other than those recent ones that took advantage of his moment of candor about government’s omniscience, which is something that needs to be told) are mostly a waste of air time and money. What is needed is a blitz of who Romney is.
Today is my little contribution to that effort. Starting with what we know of him from the Olympics.
Let’s start with setting the stage. Back in the late 1990s, just three years out from the Olympics (so, five years into planning) there was scandal involving the bidding process, and budget deficits and building delays. It looked possible that the games could actually fail to materialize.
Mitt Romney was invited in to head the games for some specific reasons: he was known for saving businesses in crisis, he was known for strong leadership under pressure, and he was particularly know for integrity, which was essential in this particular crisis. In barely more than a week after the request came, he had turned over the running of his highly successful investment capital firm to trusted staff and worked full-time on the Olympics. He took no pay for his service over those next several years. In fact, he donated about a million of his own money, which he felt he need to do while he was calling friends in the business world and asking them for donations and sponsorships.
His beloved wife, Ann, suffered from multiple sclerosis, diagnosed in 1998. Her story is that she felt Mitt focused totally on her as the center of his life. Many people report he is able to make people feel that way, but I think it is most natural with Ann. He clearly adores her.
So, personal challenges and overwhelming Olympic crisis were his life in those days. But the Olympics turned around so well under his guidance that people forget how tenuous that had been. By half a year out, it looked like it would be practically a cake walk. And then 9/11 happened. The meaning of the tragedy for the country was so memorable that the date is one of the few that immediately brings to mind the historic tragedy. For the Olympics, it meant there were just five months left to guarantee that hundreds of thousands of people could come to a US city with safety from attack. You can be certain that this was the real test of Romney’s ability to meet a crisis.
His attention to detail, his ability to inspire by concentrating on the underlying principles (it’s about the athletes, in this case, and the security of the environment was what they deserved), and his extremely capable (and frugal) management of money resulted in not just adequate Olympics that don’t go badly into debt, but highly successful Olympics, as an event as well as a financial boon. It’s not out of line to say that what he did was miraculous—and there aren’t many people in the world today who could have filled his shoes.
There’s a two-part article covering his efforts at the 2002 Winter Olympics in The Deseret News. Part I covers more general leadership over those years. Part II covers more specifically what Romney did in response to the threat caused by the 9/11 attack. Another good source is Romney's own account, Turnaround.
If we only looked at what he did during these Olympic years, Romney would be outstanding as a presidential candidate. But in addition to that we also have his business record, creating profit and jobs in the free market, as well as his crisis management in Massachusetts as governor (again, taking no income for performing that job).
When people say he is hard to know, I think it is because they aren’t used to people like him. To me he seems very similar to many men of integrity I have known; he is just smarter and more successful than most. But, as we say, unto whom much is given, much is required. I believe that his “ambition” to become president isn’t about power; I believe it is about a love for this country and a belief that he has the unique skills and experiences that can help us right now.
That’s really enough for today. But, since it’s in the news, I’ll say just a bit about the “gaffe” this week in London. Here is a transcript of the exchange in a 9-minute interview between NBC’s Brian Williams and Mitt Romney:
BW: And in the short time you’ve been in London, do they [the Olympics] look ready, to your experienced eye?
MR: You know, it’s hard to know just how well it will turn out. There were a few things that were disconcerting. There’ve been stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials. That obviously is something which isn’t encouraging. Because in the games—there are three parts that make games successful. Number 1, of course, are the athletes. That’s what overwhelmingly the games are about. Number 2 are the volunteers, and they’ll have great volunteers here. But number 3 are the people of the country. Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment. But that’s something which we only find out once the games actually begin.
Again, this was from a 9-minute interview. I heard the whole thing and totally missed this part as something troublesome. The memorable moment was when Williams questioned him about the rumor that he was seeking a VP candidate who was a “boring white guy,” and Romney quipped that he’d already checked and learned that Williams was not available. Made me laugh. Not offensive, but quick and dry humor (which Williams seemed to miss).
The “gaffe” seemed to me a reasonable response to a direct question. Romney was validating the suggestion by Williams that there were problems; he was aware of them, as Williams and presumably the viewers were as well. And then he went on to emphasize the importance of the athletes and the volunteers, and his hope that the people of London were engaged and enjoying the games without guaranteeing that for them as an outsider. That is why it was so easily repaired in conversation later with the prime minister.
So, it would have been better if he had foreseen the media’s all-out effort to scan every single word for something to put forth as a gaffe. But it really wasn’t intended as a criticism of London and their Olympics.
I hope both the Olympics and the rest of Romney’s overseas trip go smoothly.
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