Mitt Romney’s Wealth as a Liability

As a major contender in the GOP primary, Mitt Romney must be careful to limit his potential liabilities as a politician.  Governor Rick Perry is proving to be a staunch rival at this point in the race, so Romney is beginning to make various strategic moves to reassert his position as frontrunner.  He is, for instance, taking advantage of Perry’s stance on Social Security; the view that each state should run its own program is proving unpopular, and Perry has therefore left himself vulnerable to attacks by his rival.  Romney has also begun to employ a defensive maneuver:  he is trying to become, that is, an average Joe.

Romney has identified that, perhaps, owning a number of multi-million-dollar properties may cause a few problems in terms of relating to the lower and middle classes, especially in the harsh economic climate.  The natural inclination for any political consultant would therefore be to limit any appearance of superiority in order to make the candidate more likeable to the constituents.  The most recent trend, as described the New York Times article, “Adventures of a Common Man…Mitt Romney?” has the candidate posing for photo ops doing normal things. 

Not only is Romney eating all sorts of middle class luxuries like pork on a stick and Subway sandwiches, but he is also going out of his way to purchase economy class tickets from the inexpensive Southwest Airlines.  He is maintaining a level of – well-publicized – frugality in his campaign spending, a practice that he claims carries over into his private life.  The candidate is hoping to appear at once modest and thrifty.

Publicizing so heavily the normality of his campaign life could end up backfiring for the candidate.  In other words, making mundane events such as a meal at a fast food restaurant into a photo op is so blatantly obvious that he could become a caricature.  The comedy of the situation it well outlined in a site called Mitt’s List, where the candidate’s common man shenanigans are logged with a humorous spin.  A picture depicting Romney’s preference for the economical Southwest Airlines is described in the site, only with the sarcastic caption, “Bags fly free…Golf bags fly free too.”  Another photograph, taken with Bill O’Reilly and two staff members at Fenway Park in Boston, seems suspiciously staged – the entire row below the candidate is conveniently cleared out.

Nevertheless, Romney’s wealth could end up being less of a problem than anticipated.  His experience with business and money management could be seen as a positive attribute, a reason for the electorate to trust him to help bring the country out of harsh economic times.  The question remains if his “common man” campaign is necessary, or even counterproductive.  In all likelihood, the photo ops will serve little more than fodder for satire.  Before the end of the GOP primary race, more serious issues will certainly arise.