Mitt Romney: A New Course for America ( video)

Published on May 8, 2012 by RomneyComms

Michigan remarks, transcript here

Given that Romney is the likely nominee, it may well be time to take a look at what kind of president he may be.  This speech gives some clues.  I thought I'd break it down into the parts that I found interesting.  Actually, on the whole, it is a good speech.  I could find no fault with it.  In fact, there were parts which I found quite good.  But there's this feeling down deep that he is doing this for effect, not out of a deeply held belief.  Romney's biggest question is what does he really believe.  Can you trust him?  This video may give clues to answers to that question.

The overall speech is at the bottom, with the breakdown to various points in the speech preceeding it as follows:

"The President's plea that we simply ignore the last four years is his latest effort to escape responsibility for the failures. His earlier effort was to attempt to blame others – his predecessor, the Congress, the One Percent, oil companies, and ATMs."

"Old-school liberals envisioned government guiding and providing every need of every citizen. Government would be at the center, the most important player in our lives"

"President Obama is looking in the wrong direction. Looking backward won't solve the problems of today nor will it take advantage of the opportunities of tomorrow. His are the policies of the past."

"This is a time for new ideas, new answers and a new direction. That is the only way that our future can be better than the past."

"America is at a crossroads, one with the greatest economic divergence of the last hundred years. One path is that which President Obama has chosen. It ends with us becoming like much of Europe with chronic high unemployment, stagnant wages, and perilous levels of debt."

"We do not have to live with less. We can create more"

Comment:

This is a non ideological speech which is aimed directly at an ideology that has failed us.  This is a way towards victory if he can close the deal.

As for the question of trust, I think you can trust him not to be a right wing ideologue.  This may discomfit those who would prefer that he would, and reassure others who fear that he might.  He is not Barry Goldwater, but he may be echoing a bit of Reagan, who did not trust ideology.