Light Rays on Saturdays: Obama v Romney... Study Their Time At Harvard Grad Schools

After all the histrionics, debates and fabricated hoo-hah, the match-up for the presidency in 2012 will be precisely what everyone has expected all along: President Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney. If you want to truly understand the nature of these two men, study the one thing they have in common: Harvard University graduate schools. These New York Times’ features – one from January 2007 exploring Obama’s time at Harvard Law and the other from December 2011 assessing Romney at Harvard Business – provide tremendous insights into the personalities and characters of the candidates.

By now, you have had your fill of the “look back,” “look ahead,” “best of,” “top 10” and “what to watch for” stories that inundate us at the end and start of every year, in every medium and media. There’s no evidence that many people pay attention to the vast majority of these stories. It’s breezy filler designed to fill space between ads and give editors and reporters well-deserved time off during the holidays. That’s why it was nice to see Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank review the accuracy of his predictions for 2011. The annual churn of year-end content would be significantly more interesting if all media held themselves publicly accountable in such fashion.

You’ll hear a lot about the Iowa presidential caucuses this coming week. Political junkies swear the caucuses are important – as a winnowing exercise, as a springboard to voting primaries in other states, as a place for candidates to drop resume bombs on each other, and as a test of retail political skills. Yet the winner in Iowa is seldom their party’s nominee. For a different perspective on the importance of Iowa, read these pieces published in the past week in The Washington Post and The New York Times. Each offers important context about the state that will dominate political news this week.

As we head into a new year, I want to thank everyone for reading Bending Light. Somehow, it manages to get about 150 to 200 page views per post, and I’m very grateful to know that you're out there. By far, the two most popular posts since Bending Light launched two months ago have been on Jerry Sandusky’s decision to interview with Bob Costas and the five things reporters and PR people have in common. The “Light Rays” compilations on Saturdays also seem pretty well-read. Thanks again for making Bending Light a choice in your online buffet. 

I wish Happy New Year to you all! See you in 2012.

Mitt Romney In The Media Sun: Can GOP Voters Like Him If They Don't Trust Him?

 

It’s a big weekend for Mitt Romney – the weekend he finally lets voters see him as a person, a human being, a father with a family, a husband with quirks, a guy with an IPod and a big appetite for cereal.

In fact, you now have four excellent opportunities – Mitt Moments – to understand the former Massachusetts Governor from four very different but equally insightful perspectives:

Mitt Moment 1: “A Mitt Romney You Haven’t Seen” is the topic of a big spread in Parade magazine this weekend. It’s online here. Fresh from his boy’s weekend in Italy with George Clooney, venerable presidential consultant David Gergen says he “still wondered what made Romney tick.” To his credit, Gergen confronts Romney’s Mormon faith, which many see as a hidden concern for GOP voters.

The Parade profile is a must read for every voter.  But don’t stop there. Read what Gergen himself has to say about the interview in a separate Parade piece and in an online column on CNN. It speaks volumes that the nation’s most influential political consultant-analyst-author-commentator “still wondered what made Romney tick.” Romney ran four years ago and it’s only a month before the start of the GOP primaries, but Gergen concludes: “We can’t tell yet what kind of president Mitt Romney would be.” Ouch.

Mitt Moment 2: “Why Don’t They Like Me” is the subject of a five-page Time magazine cover story dated December 12 (available online if you subscribe.) Authored by none other than Joe Klein, the five-page piece examines the familiar litany of potential misgivings that bedevil Romney – flip-flops, Mormonism, technocratic, etc.

Klein has openly complained that he did not get the same access to Romney, his family and his campaign that Gergen was granted. His resentment may have seeped into his writing, giving the piece a negative slant. Reportedly, the Time article says of Romney: "The question always remains: Who is he really? Do we have any clues as to what he actually believes?" Sounds familiar.

Mitt Moment 3: "Building a Better Mitt Romney-Bot" is the unflattering headline of today's New York Times Magazine cover story, a comprehensive assessment of Romney's strategic choice to be portrayed as "a fixer" rather than a regular guy.

"Mitt Romney’s campaign has decided upon a rather novel approach to winning the presidency. It has taken a smart and highly qualified but largely colorless candidate and made him exquisitely one-dimensional: All-Business Man, the world’s most boring superhero," says author Robert Draper, who describes Romney as a man "puzzling his way to victory."

Mitt Moment 4: “Focus Group Weighs in on Campaign 2012” is a CSPAN question-and-answer session with suburban Republican voters in northern Virginia recorded Thursday, December 1. Less convenient than either the Parade or Time spreads, this focus group – facilitated by the legendary pollster Peter Hart – is a must-see for political junkies. It’s uncut and a great demonstration how focus groups should work.

Beware Barney Blarney: Three reasons the race to succeed Barney Frank is unpredictable

Congressman Barney Frank’s decision to retire at the end of his current term has set in motion a spectacle of political punditry that should vastly improve the sale of hip boots at Cabela’s during the course of the next 11 months.

Hundreds of reporters, consultants and political operatives will be eager to tell you how the race to succeed Frank will turn out; after all, politics is a professional sporting industry in Massachusetts.

Here are three reasons why you should keep your own counsel:

Light Rays on Saturdays: Mitt's Hair and a Modern Definition of PR

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was at the center of two big stories this week that demonstrate how political communications has devolved into something resembling professional wrestling.  

With President Obama visiting New Hampshire, Romney bought a tiny bit of local TV to air an ad attacking Obama’s handing of the economy. Romney aides also delivered the commercial to reporters. One little problem – the featured Obama quote was really a paraphrase of something an aide to Senator John McCain said during the 2008 campaign. Romney and his aides shrugged off the deluge of criticism.

Misleading and unethical, the ad had little to do with hurting Obama – it’s no secret the economy is his weak spot. It was primarily designed to earn Romney the “See, I can be a tough guy” merit badge among the GOP influencers who have yet to embrace his candidacy. Democrats may use the ad to bolster their attack on Romney as a cold, valueless, flip-flopping, say-anything-to-win candidate.

The other big Mitt story? One thousand words on his hair on the front page of Friday’s New York Times.  The Times even interviewed the “barrel-chested, bald Italian immigrant” barber, who “agreed to share some of the secrets” of Mitt’s hair. Are you ready to be blown away? No dye. No product. And, sometimes Romney trims it himself.

How many of you are saying: “Wow. I honestly don’t give a flying follicle about this?”