Does Romney Really Want to Be President?
That's the subject of an article in The Nation by Leslie Savan (see link below).
Oddly enough, this has been a subject on my mind for a while now, because, ever since having sewn up the Republican nomination last Spring, Romney seems like someone on a mission to...subvert his own presidential campaign.
http://www.thenation.com/...
What has occurred to me over these past few months is that, while Romney has desperately sought and wanted to be the Republican nominee for president, secretly, deep down, psychologically, he hasn't necessarily craved being president quite as much.
Why?
Here's my theory:
Romney comes from a religion that has desperately tried to obtain complete political control over this country since its establishment. In fact, it's founder, Joseph Smith, actually ran for president early on with the intention of trying to establish a Mormon religious state in the entire country. After many years of failing to do so, Mormons in the late 1800's seemed to settle, instead, on the creation of their own state, which would then be the launching pad for their eventual takeover of the country. That's how Utah came to be, as sort of a political compromise, which has, essentially, given the Mormon church political supremacy in its own state. It was, in part, why many Mormon's settled the state to begin with, although it wasn't necessarily the only reason (perceived religious persecution was likely a factor, as well).
In any case...back to my theory:
In order for the Mormon church to realistically gain political control in this country, they, first, have to establish themselves as a mainstream religion, acceptable to enough Americans to actually elect a Mormon president.
And...one of the first hurdles toward attaining that goal is to, first, break the glass ceiling by getting the first Mormon ever nominated for president by a major political party. That can go a long way toward helping to establish legitimacy as a mainstream relgion.
That, in my opinion, has been Romney's primary psychological motivation all along, to help pave the way for the first Mormon president by being the first Mormon ever nominated for president by a major political party. He achieved that goal last Spring when he, essentially, wrapped up the nomination.
Since then, he hasn't acted that much like someone desperately craving to be president.
While actually winning the presidency might be an added plus for Romney for a variety of reasons, including the above, my guess is that he has pretty much eased up since achieving his primary goal, of being the first Mormon nominated for president by a major political party in the U.S.
Coincidentally, writer of The Nation article seems to have a similar feeling about Romney, that his primary objective has already been achieved.
It would sure explain a lot of his behavior over the past few months.
Of course, it's also possible that Romney is simply incompetent, an out-of-touch corporate raider whose core competency is unrelated to the core competencies required of a President and Commander-In-Chief.
Or...perhaps it's a combination of both: he's already achieved his primary goal, but he also happens to be incompetent, too.