Romney Rocks!

As various Republicans and Democrats jump into the race for the Presidency in 2008, I want to take time to highlight who I think, *so far*, is definitely the best likely candidate out there: Mitt Romney.

In my opinion we need somebody not only with solid principles-- someone who believes in the worth of the individual and in the primacy of individual rights over collective demands-- but equally importantly, somebody who can articulate those principles clearly. We need somebody who thinks creatively, systematically, and rigorously about how to solve the nation's most pressing problems. Here are some excerpts on Romney:

• Romney loves the very vocabulary of business—the rhythm of charts and diagrams and boardroom presentations. One afternoon, standing in a newly built Silver Line bus station in South Boston, he introduced a transportation plan that he hoped would be a blueprint for the next twenty years. Speaking in terms that only a consultant could love, he said, "Let me now take a journey with you in … PowerPoint."
• Romney concedes his love of analysis, up to a point. "I like data," he says. He sees issues such as transportation and health care and education as analytical problems to be solved—things that can be tinkered with and fixed, like an unprofitable company.
• The importance of using evidence and rigor and logic and data is something Romney gets in part from the Bain world view.
• Mitt Romney's initial foray into politics was not a success. In 1994 he spent $3 million of his own money in a campaign to topple the mighty Ted Kennedy from his perch in the U.S. Senate. Why did he waste money on such a quixotic project? "I felt very strongly that the social programs of the sixties and seventies, the liberal agenda—I'll call it the Johnson agenda—had hurt working families, had hurt the poor in many instances," he told me. "And while the liberals had the best of intentions, I felt that the programs themselves had created a permanent underclass and had fostered poverty instead of eliminating it."

This is somebody we need. We need somebody who can think beyond our existing paradigms and who solves problems head on not by referring to mantras (whether conservative or liberal), but by actually jumping in the data, looking at the models, and approaching issues from a scientific point of view to determine how to solve the problem.

At the same time, we need somebody whose principles guide him to identify the valid problems we face-- not the pseudo-problems like income inequality and price gouging, but the fundamental underlying problems that erode our economy, our security, our freedom, and our values. Mitt Romney has the complete package-- he has the competence and the principles. Here are some videos/links you should definitely go to in order to learn more about Romney:

Hear Romney talk about his innovative healthcare plan.

Watch this thorough interview with Romney on the Charlie Rose show. Skip the first 3 1/2 minutes to get to the Romney interview.

Watch this Q&A with Romney.