Mitt Romney is winning Republican primaries but many Republicans still wonder if Mitt Romney is human. Democrats don’t want Mitt Romney to be president and neither do many conservative Republicans who think Mitt Romney is not human. I don’t mean to imply that Mitt is an alien. But, he doesn’t have the common touch for many of his fellow Republicans. And trying to find it is making him appear even less human. Being human shows there is a human side to your back story. President Obama spoke about being raised by a single mother; having a grandfather who fought in World War II, having a mother die of cancer without health insurance and being a compassionate community organizer upon graduating from law school.What is Mitt Romney’s human story?
Mitt Romney has a back story except it is not appealing to his constituency. So he changes his story to fit his base. Romney, a Mormon was a missionary during his early years. Being a missionary, I assume means he helped some poor folks. Yet, that would not be appealing to his Republican base. So what does Romney do? He comes out saying that he’s not concerned about the very poor. A missionary works with the poor. They are not usually working with the middle class or helping the rich get richer. So when Romney changes his own story to fit that of someone else, he comes off sounding and acting like an alien.And he sounds like a rich alien who hates the “very poor”.
Romney’s father was also born in a Mexican colony and later moved to the US. If he emphasizes his father’s birth background, it will raise questions as to whether he is American, among his GOP conservative base. The same GOP base that is asking for President Obama’s birth certificate will want to secretly see Mitt Romney’s birth certificate.
Most Mormons overwhelmingly support Mitt Romney—just as an overwhelming number of African Americans support President Obama. Some Evangelical Christians still view Mormons as a cult and have openly spoken against Mormonism. Just as Republicans questioned and still question whether President Obama is Muslim or Christian, the same Republicans privately ask if Mitt Romney is a Christian. Being Muslim, Christian or Mormon –which is Christian should not matter. All faiths and religions are acceptable to hold the office of President, except in the eyes of the conservative right wing Republicans. So, for Mitt Romney, being human means being a Christian which many Republicans question about Mitt Romney’s religion.
Having the same wife of 43 years also doesn’t seem to be helping to make him appear human. Newt Gingrich turned his adulterous affairs and three wives to his own advantage and human traits. It’s as if these traits are a badge of bad boy honor and humanism for Republicans.
Romney was the first US governor to sign into law a universal health care law when he was Massachusetts governor. This fact makes him human among Democrats except they are not likely to vote for him. It makes him seem alien to Republicans that are trying to overturn the Affordable Health Care Act.
And Romney is trying to appease his conservative Republican base, including the likes of Rush Limbaugh and show that he is human by their standards. The only problem is by the conservative Republican base, Mitt Romney is not human. He’s a wealthy alien, valued at $250 million who cannot connect to his own GOP base or the American public. Mitt Romney thinks he is human—just like corporations he thinks are people.
Debbie Hines is a lawyer, former prosecutor and legal /political commentator appearing in national and local media including CNN, the Michael Eric Dyson Show, XM Sirius radio, NBC , ABC and CBS -Washington, DC affiliates, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Black Enterprise among others. She founded LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on women and race in law and politics. She also writes for the Huffington Post.
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