For those of you who endorse Mitt Romney, explain why
Can't say that I endorse him. In my state (NC) we don't vote until May, so I haven't yet started to focus in on the candidates' positions. By waiting a bit I expect the field to be cut down, leaving me with less 'homework' to do.
However, at the moment I do favor Romney. I'm primarily interested in fiscal/economic issues, not social issues. So I don't care about any flip-flopping on gay marriage or abortion and the like.
Romney's business past is very impressive. His work at Bain was extraordinary. That company went in to turn around troubled companies with a hands-on style. That's pretty unique and means Romney has a lot of inside 'hands-on' experience at actually running a business (and many different types of them which is also unique). That's much different from the typical consultant who sits at their desk reading reports and other data and produces a paper detailing recommendation. Bain actually implemented and directed their recommendations and they were highly successful at it. That company (Bain), at least while he was there, was top notch. I worked for one of the largest international CPA firms in our HQ's (both Europe and USA) during the time Romney was running Bain and everyone at HQ thought Bain was an incredibly good firm. It's not easy to impress high-level snobby CPA's.
Romney also did an outstanding job with Olympics. That thing was an out-of-control dumpster fire before he took over. IIRC, it's the only Olympics to ever turn a profit. That's amazing, especially considering the circumstances (IIRC, there was all kinds of corruption and criminal charges, financial mismanagement and out-of-control budgets before he took over and cleaned it all up.)
He's got govt experience at the exec level and has shown he can work with the other side. Being a Repub governor is a solid blue state like Mass can't be an easy job and shows he can work withe the other side.
As far as his personality, his background shows him to be very cautious. I see people here claiming he'd be a warmonger and the like and I simply cannot agree. Cautious people are not war mongers, not impulsive types. They are the opposite. He's also extremely analytical. He identifies, analyzes and weighs elements of risk. If he cannot get comfortable with eliminating or overcoming those risks he will avoid them.
And he's obviously very intelligent. He graduated from Harvard's dual degree program with an MBA and JD (law degree). Tackling both of those at the same time is an impressive feat.
Because of our economy, I think he may be the right person at the right time. If he's as good at business/finance/economics as his resume indicates I think we really needed him in '08.
Fern