2. Romney is a turnaround guy
Private equity gets a bad rap. Most people don’t even know what private equity firms do. They love Shark Tank, but they hate Bain Capital. When Romney was running for president in 2012, the words, “Bain Capital,” were uttered as an epithet requiring no further explanation.
As president and general manager of Bain Capital, Romney led a firm that specialized in turnarounds. The private equity concern bought up companies that often had crushing debt, and attempted to turn them into profitable operations. Romney’s critics observed that Bain Capital’s success record was sketchy. There is a lot of risk in private equity; it’s a “you win some, you lose some” kind of business. While some companies failed anyway, Bain Capital’s financial successes outweighed its failures.
Mitt Romney’s introduction to the national stage was the 2002 Olympics. Salt Lake City got into a bit of scandal for bribing international Olympic officials in a bid to bring the games to Utah. The committee was over budget and mired in bad publicity. Romney played the turnaround guy, nixing 5-star travel plans and free pizza for volunteers. The 2002 games sold 95% of available tickets and boasted a financial surplus at its conclusion.
After the Olympics, Romney became governor of Massachusetts, where he again, played the role of the turnaround guy. Granted, his solutions were a mix of spending cuts and increased tax revenues, but he was able to balance the state budget.
American foreign policy needs a turnaround guy. Foreign policy under Obama has been indecisive and meandering with no clear goals. This is where Romney can help, again, as long as he can project the Reagan ideal of peace through strength, and avoid the U.S. becoming mired in foreign conflicts.
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