Romney's got the value of his business experience backwards. I explain with a little help from Michael Jordan.
I typically focus my writing on political strategy and the big picture, but I did work in politics for several years, and want to say something about this quote from Romney that he has been repeating in various forms for a few months:
"Where I come from real leadership is starting a business, not getting a bill out of committee."
That's like Michael Jordan showing up at a hockey team and saying "where I come from leadership is about hitting the game winning shot in the playoffs, not skating around and trying to score a goal." The response to Michael Jordan would be, "Yes, it is true and impressive how you exercised leadership in basketball, but this is hockey. To succeed you have to know how to skate and shoot the puck."
To complete the analogy, Romney is basically saying he has a big agenda and is qualified to be President because he has no idea how to pass his agenda. Someone needs to tap him on the shoulder and remind him that the way you pass your agenda in Washington isn't by a vote of the Board of Directors, it's by getting bills out of committee.
On the other hand, I suspect Romney knows this from his time as Governor and this is just another one of his throwaway lines to appease the hyperventilating base.
To read this and past writings, check out my blog Rational Persuasion at http://rationalpersuasion.blogspot.com.