Why I support Governor Mitt Romney

I like Mitt Romney because he seems interested in hearing both sides. Some people just hear the words, “listen to both sides” and assume you are a moderate. I think Mitt Romney is a presidential Judge Roberts—someone with strong convictions, but that is always respectful and intellectually curious.

Mitt Romney said of his first campaign against Ted Kennedy that his wish was to improve the quality of dialogue. In his book Turnaround, Romney said, “Ideas I brought forward were dissected and distorted to their illogical extreme.” Romney had failed to “…raise new ideas for government, help rebuild a disappearing second party, and stand for something bigger than self interest… the campaign had been about charges and misperceptions, not ideas and ideals.”

As an awkward 19 and twenty year old, I tried every day of my life to explain my “ideas and ideal” to the people of Tennessee. I wanted their acknowledgment that although I may be wrong, that I was honestly doing what I thought was right. I wanted to convince people that my beautiful parents, whom I never say fight, or yell at me, that tried their best every day to do what was right, that cried over wayward children, and sacrificed for their family and community were not bad people just because they were Mormon. I wanted to be seen as an individual and not as a Mormon. I wanted to be seen as a person. I look to Mitt Romney to find that acceptance that I never received. I feel emotionally tied to Mitt Romney. I want him to be seen as in individual and not just a Mormon. According to recent political surveys, Mormons are one of the few groups that it is still politically correct to discriminate against, and as usual everyone assumes that it is intolerant southerners who are the most discriminatory, when in reality liberal democrats show their hypocrisy when they preach the belief that you should judge people as individuals, but many of them admit they would never vote for a Mormon.

I believe in Romney because I believe that he can clear up misperceptions. Everyone might not agree with him, but I think he is the best communicator on the ticket. If people reject him, it will not be because he failed to explain himself; it is because they honestly reject him. Our current president seems to think that it is feminine or beneath him to try and persuade… that it is somehow manlier or something to just make a decision and stick with it.

I think that debate of any kind often breaks down to “charges and misperceptions, not ideas and ideals.” I think Mitt Romney will move us beyond the charge and countercharge. I think he will move us beyond the 30 second time slot. I believe that he is an individual of substance that will listen, hear, understand, and be understood.