I was watching his West Chester, Ohio speech yesterday afternoon. As the Soon-To-Be-President-Elect was noting his achievements the thought occurred to me: what makes him think that he'll be able to convince the collective jackal, more commonly known as the Democrat Party, to suddenly be reasonable and pliant?
I know most of the main arguments, both for and against, and would like to better understand the likely trajectory of Romney's first two years. Informed speculations are most welcome.
I'll start and I hope others will join in and share their thoughts.
On the plus side let's start with the basics: he's tall, easy on the eyes, and telegenic. His bearing meets our collective definition of a passable beauty contestant. Of a tad bit more concern, to our miserably-ill body politic, are his substantial credentials for higher office.
Romney brings excellent technocratic skills and a breadth of experience in executive management, salesmanship, product development, materiel and quality control, and labor management not the least; in short, all of the requisite management skills.
Additionally, Romney has drive, devotion, likability, intelligence and perseverance.
Finally, the former Governor of Massachusetts has solid policy ideas and a vision for the future. Altogether, that's probably more than sufficient for the average voter to conclude that Romney is a very viable candidate.
But, OTOH, so what!? All of that is requisite (the Obama exception aside) for a successful agenda but insufficient. Even putting aside that Romney is likely to be under considerably more pressure than Obama, will Romney be able (as able as Reagan, say) to effect the requisite changes despite a split Congress? That's really the question.
There is much that a President can do by executive fiat but, without a willing Congress, any improvements instituted thereby will be short-lived or illusory and otherwise easily undone through executive action of the next President.
So I guess, amongst other criteria, his success in office may depend upon how you define "success."
Anyway, views? Opinions? Objections?