Why I'm Supporting Mitt Romney for President

Quote of the Day: "It is capitalism and freedom that makes America strong." - Mitt Romney

We interrupt the "Adventures in Babysitting" series, to bring you a little bit of politics. I'm going to dip my toes into the 2012 presidential race. Please hear me out. Or don't. I don't care, but don't come crying to me when we become part of the EU or something.

I haven't formally endorsed any one candidate yet. I guess I was sort of, kind of hoping for Paul Ryan someone else to jump into the race at the last minute. When it became quite clear that no one else was going to do any jumping, I started leaning towards Rick Perry. Ironically, the worse he did in the polls, the more I realized he was the perfect guy for the job.

When Perry dropped out today, I was left with four guys. None of them are guys I want to vote for, for different reasons. Of them, I think three of them would be better than Obama, but I think Mitt Romney would be the best candidate of those four.

Why? It comes down to this: I don't care about social issues. I mean, I do, but this election doesn't need to be about that. This election needs to be about fixing the economy, restoring freedom and capitalism, allowing businesses to succeed or fail, and allowing new and small businesses to start up and flourish. I think Mitt Romney truly understands this. Not only does he understand that, he's lived it.

At some point in 2008, when everyone was talking bailouts, I read an op-ed Romney had written about it, and it occurred to me that this guy knows business. Obviously, he's got a storied background, but he is a walking, talking poster child for the capitalism everyone who is a fiscal conservative claims to be all about. I started seeking out more information about him, and I started to wonder if we'd made a mistake in not making him our candidate. I truly believed at that point in time, we needed a businessman in the White House. We needed a guy who had real-world experience and knew how to fix things as a boss, as a manager, as a proven leader, not some political ideologue or career politician. We need a guy who knows how jobs are crated, not one who has big ideas about what might work.

You can call him a "flip-flopper," a "phoney," a "RINO" or whatever else you want to call him or hear others say. You can say he's out-of-touch or take issue that he's a Mormon. You can point out that he's made some fairly liberal statements in the past. You can say he doesn't stand up enough for what he believes in. But what he has going for him is real-world business experience and success, and that, to me, is what makes him stand above the rest of the other mediocre candidates. And I think that's what we need more than anything right now. I don't love that it's the only reason why I want to vote for him, but it almost scares me not to do so. If we don't get this mess straightened out soon, nothing else matters.

Many people have said to me that they fear what he will do in regard to Obama's health care bill and a few other issues. If I'm being 100% honest, I have that fear as well. But he says he will handle it, and I'm going to have to trust him. In life, you just have to take that chance sometimes. Nothing is ever a sure thing. My suggestion to those who let that prevent them from voting for him is to see to it that we get and/or keep a Republican majority in the House and the Senate that will keep him honest.

I keep hearing all of this "We have to beat Obama" talk. And we do. But I don't think carefully manipulating the race (ie. picking the guy who will win debates, etc.) is the way to do that. I think the way to do that is for this party to come together and strongly support a candidate and let Democrats know that we are not going to let them win in 2012. We need to let them know Mitt Romney is our guy, and we will fight behind him. We need to stop showing weakness and apathy for our candidate, and focus on the real problems in this country. We need to educate people on why they should vote for fiscal conservatives in order to see improvements in their lives. That's how you win elections and make real change.

Many of my friends support Newt because they want to see him debate Obama. (Which, again, a smooth talking politician is how we ended up with Obama in the first place. I'll never understand that. Any of these candidates could debate Obama on his first four years and win a debate anyway.) Newt talks a good game, but what has he done to back that up? Where in life has he proven that he can do this thing? He's been a college professor, an author, a politician and a lobbyist. That pretty much sums up what Barack Obama would be in 20 years if he hadn't become president. I'm not seeing how this guy is suddenly the champion of conservatives?

I hope my friends in the GOP will eventually see through all of this too. I hope they'll get past talking points and catchy catch-phases and fancy speeches. Those things are great for talk shows, but they don't fix a country with big problems. It's too late to wish and hope and search for the perfect candidate; we need to start supporting a candidate who can and will get something accomplished.

I have more to say on the matter, but this foray back into political blogging is giving me a headache. Baby steps, kids, baby steps.