Mr. Romney proclaims that he is the next coming of business success for the U.S. He has constantly touted that he knows business and can bring 12 million new jobs to America. In reality, there has been a minimum amount of business leaders publicly supporting Mitt Romney. Of course, there have been private fundraisers behind closed doors where Mitt Romney raised millions of dollars throughout the campaign. There was the now famous one where Mr. Romney spoke about 47% of Americans being freeloaders or “victims” were his exact words. I wonder where is the business support behind Mitt Romney.
It is an interesting fact that Romney has not had commercials of air space, TV or radio, with major business leaders endorsing him. A great ad would have been one with major business leaders proclaiming that Mr. Romney can do what he promises. So I did some digging. There are business leaders that are verified as supporting Mr. Romney. I checked out a list of 23 business leaders on a web site including Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Rupert Murdock ( Mr. Fox News), Ross Perot, and the CEO’s of Home Depot, Walmart and Hewlett Packard. Interesting enough, the website lists twice as many actors and comedians as business leaders. Although, Donald Trump could appear in both categories. To my knowledge, there has not been one single commercial with business leaders publicly endorsing Romney and singing his praises. An ad of endorsement of prominent business leaders would speak volumes for Mr. Romney. But these leaders are silent—at least publicly.
I find it peculiar that there has not been a commercial with major business leaders attesting to the business genius of Mitt Romney. I mean if I were ever running for Attorney General, I would have other prominent lawyers endorsing me. It’s like if Paula Dean, Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart or Julia Child had a Thanksgiving feast and no one from their family or other chefs came to dinner. You would have to wonder about the quality of their food.
One major businessman, Mayor Bloomberg of New York, an Independent, endorsed President Obama. The Economist magazine, read by many influential executives and policy makers, endorsed President Obama. The Economist disagrees with many of its business leaders who conclude that nothing is worse than four more years of President Obama. The editorial staff of the Economist begged to differ. The Economist says the only thing that is wrong with Romney’s plan is one would have to disbelieve everything he says in order for it to make sense.
Starbucks CEO publicly endorsed President Obama as did mayor Bloomberg. Where are all the business leaders speaking on behalf of Mr. Romney. Perhaps, they all know what the economist states: Mr. Romney’s economic plan works only if you don’t believe most of what he says. It does not look like any business leader wants to tarnish their image speaking out front on behalf of Mitt Romney except Donald Trump. And Mr. Trump has all but made a fool of himself. No one else has publicly come forward. It makes one wonder—why.
For those who are still undecided and debating if Mitt Romney might be the second coming of jobs to the U.S., think again. And ask why is Donald Trump, the only business leader who speaks up on Mr. Romney’s behalf. I always say that you are known by the company you keep. And one would assume that Mr. Romney knows a lot of major business leaders. So, where are they now?
Washington, DC based Debbie Hines is a former prosecutor and founder of LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on women and race in law and politics. As a legal and political commentator she has appeared in national, international and local media including the Michael Eric Dyson Show, local NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates, RT TV, CBC- Canadian TV, NPR, XM Sirius radio, the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post and Washington Times among others. She also contributes articles to the Huffington Post and the Women’s Media Center.
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