In New Film, a Dramatic Look at Mitt Romney’s Loss of Confidence. By Byron York.
In new film, a dramatic look at Mitt Romney’s loss of confidence. By Byron York. Washington Examiner, January 19, 2014.
York:
As
defeat settled in, Romney discussed what to say in a concession speech — which,
for all his natural pessimism, Romney had not considered ahead of time. And it
was in that moment that some of Romney’s passion about the race finally came
out, far from the view of voters and television cameras. Stevens suggested that
the losing candidate should play an almost “pastoral” role, “soothing” the
American people after a long and divisive campaign.
“I
don't think it is a time for soothing and everything’s fine,” said Romney. “I
think this is a time for [saying], ‘This is really serious, guys. This is
really serious.’”
“To get
up and soothe is not my inclination,” an obviously anguished Romney continued. “I
cannot believe that [Obama] is an aberration in the country. I believe we’re
following the same path of every other great nation, which is we’re following
greater government, tax rich people, promise more stuff to everybody, borrow
until you go over a cliff. And I think we have a very high risk of reaching the
tipping point sometime in the next five years. And the idea of saying ‘it’s
just fine, don’t worry about it’ – no, it’s really not.”
Given
what has come before it in the film — Romney’s defeatism in the debates — the
scene leaves the impression that perhaps in his heart of hearts Romney never
really believed he could win. That also seems the message of one of the last scenes
of “Mitt,” the day after the election, when Romney addressed staff at his
Boston campaign headquarters. The old lack of confidence came out again as
Romney suggested he never felt comfortable in the race. He passed on something
someone at headquarters had told him: “In some ways, we kind of had to steal
the Republican nomination. Our party is Southern, evangelical and populist. And
you’re Northern, and you’re Mormon, and you’re rich. And these do not match
well with our party.”
A
candidate who did not believe he could beat the president in debate, who always
felt second-best to his father, who believed the country was moving away from
him, and who didn’t even feel at home in his own party. The Romney campaign
faced many uphill battles in the 2012 campaign. “Mitt” shows us that some of
the most intense were in the candidate’s mind.
