Mitt Romney was born in 1947 and grew up during the golden age of television and would have had many role models from that era. Some of these have already been mentioned, of course, so in this diary we will do a top-10 ranking of role models for Mitt. Feel free to explain why you might have ranked these differently, or to add names to the list. Please wait for the orange test pattern to clear and then we will begin.
10. Fred Mertz played by William Frawley - This miserly curmudgeon was the neighbor of the Ricardos in I Love Lucy.
9. Carlton Banks played by Alfonso Riberio - The culturally correct young black man on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
8. Jack Benny played by Jack Benny - This classic cheapskate protected his vault with alligators, dynamite and quicksand, and when guests apppeared on The Jack Benny Show he tried not to pay them.
7. Alex P. Keaton Played by Michael J. Fox - The conservative son in of a liberal family in Family Ties.
6. Blair Warner played by Lisa Whelchel - No sexist is Mitt, so he wouldn't be averse to having a female role model: In this case the preppy rich girl at a private school in The Facts of Life.
5. Robot played by a second-hand vacuum cleaner - This character is a camp favorite, from Lost in Space. Robot is not rated higher on the list, however, because of its tendency to warn the middle-class Robinson family of impending danger.
4. Thurston Howell III played by Jim Backus - The Brahmin millionaire in Gilligan's Island. Not a medalist because the judges deducted points from Mr. Howell for sometimes actually helping his fellow castaways.
now down to the nitty-gritty. The three finalists are:
3. Eddie Haskell played by Ken Osmond - The bronze goes to this two-faced, brown-nosing teenager in Leave it to Beaver. He is one of the few characters to become a metaphor in the language. We have all heard someone described as "a real Eddie Haskell".
2. J.R. Ewing played by Larry Hagman - The ruthless tycoon of Dallas would stop at nothing to further his empire. J.R. only gets a silver because he was unfaithful to his wife, and whatever else we say about Mitt Romney, we shouldn't say that.
1. Milburn Drysdayle played by Raymond Bailey - This banker from The Beverly Hillbillies recieved top scores in style, execution and sucking up to his wealthy benefactors. Your gold medal winner, ladies and gentlemen.