Opinion: Why Mitt Romney Will Be A Good President

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romneyBy Karen Hughes

Ten years ago, I walked into the White House press room and shocked the reporters there by announcing that later that summer, I would be leaving my job as counselor to the president to return to Texas. The decision was agonizingly difficult and purely personal. I believed in President George W. Bush, was committed to serving my country and loved my challenging job. But its constant demands did not allow me to be the engaged wife and mother, and I felt that was my foremost responsibility then.

But once you’ve worked in the White House, the challenges are never far from mind. Throughout this primary season, I’ve assessed the candidates. While many of my fellow Republicans understandably focus on which Republican is the best candidate to defeat President Barack Obama, I’ve looked through a different lens: Who is most capable of being a good president?

I’m interested in who has the judgment, temperament and ability to make the many difficult decisions that land on the desk of the president. I am mindful of an admonition a friend gave me when I arrived in Washington. “Don’t worry about easy decisions,” she said. “Those get made at the Cabinet agencies. Only the really hard ones come to the White House.”

Having seen the demands of the job as closely as anyone can without being the president, I’m convinced that Mitt Romney is not only the best Republican but also the best general election candidate to serve as president for four key reasons.

First, he has extensive experience making executive decisions. As governor of Massachusetts and in the private sector, Romney had to make tough choices affecting people’s jobs, lives and futures, preparing him for the world’s highest executive office. Obama is a legislator and it shows. Too often he sublets decision making to Congress, with the bad results we saw in the pork-infused trillion-dollar stimulus, the massive mess of the health care law and the regulatory morass of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms.

Second, Romney specializes in turnarounds – and Washington is in desperate need of a dramatic turnaround. When he arrived at the Salt Lake City Olympics, the organization was in chaos, in debt and tarnished by scandal. He turned it around, unifying diverse coalitions with competing interests and turned the games into a financial and diplomatic success.

He did this in the private sector as well. He rescued a number of struggling companies and brought them back to profitability and growth, creating many new jobs in the process.

Third, he’s lived a life of faithful commitment to his family and his church. He doesn’t talk about this much, probably because his Mormon faith is unfamiliar to many Americans and some view it with suspicion. But a Christian pastor friend of mine recently emailed that he is impressed that Romney lives his faith through service and significant financial contributions, and he apparently demonstrated great caring and compassion as a church leader. This tells me Romney will not be moved by the latest polls or the most effective lobbyists. He serves something greater than himself – and it’s important for a president to know that.

Finally, the No. 1 issue is jobs and the economy – and Romney understands how jobs are created and how government policies affect economic growth. Under Obama, America not only has too-high unemployment and too-low growth, but it also now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. It also faces the prospect of job-killing record individual tax increases at the end of 2012.

People who know Romney well tell me he’s a good listener – another important quality in a president. He needs to be able to consider advice from a wide range of experts on a given subject to make informed decisions.

Romney’s been steady, well-organized and disciplined throughout the primary process. I’m convinced he’s the leader America needs to restore our confidence, our economy and our leadership in the world.

Karen Hughes was counselor to President George W. Bush. She’s now the global vice chairwoman for Burson-Marsteller.

{Politico/Matzav.com Newscenter}


26 COMMENTS

  1. romney would not be a good president we have no choise to vote for him because we must get rid of obama if romney wins the econmy is not going to shoot up he might be better then obama but he will not make a good president

  2. Kinderlach, kinderlach, calm down, all of you.

    The fact that http://www.matzav.com publishes anything does not necessarily mean that the editors endorse it.

    Matzav is a “news aggregation site” in the main; that means, essentially, that its editors “cut and paste” stories that have been published elsewhere (in this case http://dyn.politico.com) so that you can decide for yourselves.

  3. “Romney understands how jobs are created”

    Actually, he has attained his great wealth mainly by cutting jobs or exporting them overseas.

    So I guess it’s true–he understands how jobs are created; he just doesn’t create them when it gets in the way of his financial success.

  4. Hey Cohen, why don’t you come out and say something specific, maybe back up your argument, or even actually make one for that matter? You seem to have a very strong opinion on the matter and are happy to voice it (and of course tell everyone else how gulliible and stupid they are). Could we actually hear something substantial from you? Something specific and relevant?

    Kudos to Matzav for publishing an intelligent article written by someone who knows what she’s talking about.

  5. #11
    you posted April 14 6:48pm,how?

    Still waiting a response…

    the genuousness of your moniker is coming into question.

    p.s. reply to your consistent banter:
    when I put a long comment,the readership return posts to keep it short.

  6. #14, it’s typical of someone so close-minded not to be able to see outside of their own 4 amos. Is the US the only place in the world where people can post from? The GENUINENESS of your intelligence is coming into question.

    Your long comments usually consist solely of quoted articles. Yet you accuse others of being “influenced by the media”. You can post something more than a one-liner with a little bit of detail and maybe some backup and no one will complain. (Ironically, when I have posted short posts based on well-known facts for the same reason, you criticize.)

    I wouldn’t go so far as to call Mitt Romney a tzadik, but I’m not sure how exactly he’s a rasha either. Mind explaining?

  7. Furthermore, you criticize Karen Hughes’s well-written article, one containing simple, cogent points, as false.
    Karen Hughes is someone who truly understands the office of the presidency. She’s seen it firsthand. She knows government and she knows the candidates and she knows the big players. She makes a clear, logical argument.
    Yet you say “If you like,I have a bridge to sell” and “the readers presumably are less gullible than Matzav”. Who in the world are you and why should anyone listen to you?

    New York was second only to Pennsylvania on Tuesday in voting for Santorum. I’m sure that was a result of short-sighted members of the frum community such as yourself, who cannot see beyond the fact that Santorum is a warrior on social issues, certainly moreso than Romney. But guess what? That doesn’t make Romney liberal, and in fact, based on what he’s said throughout this campaign, I’m not even sure he qualifies as a moderate anymore.

    So stop crying and get with the program. Romney won. He’s a better candidate. And he’ll certainly make a better president than Obama. So vote for him and stop trying to convince others to do otherwise.

  8. #16
    “14, it’s typical of someone so close-minded not to be able to see outside of their own 4 amos. Is the US the only place in the world where people can post from?”
    Had you responded you posted from elsewhere, so be it,(that,however, would have exposed you as an outsider).

    “The GENUINENESS of your intelligence is coming into question.”

    Study Language, mind you
    genuousness
    GENUINENESS

    good for a laugh

    “I wouldn’t go so far as to call Mitt Romney a tzadik, but I’m not sure how exactly he’s a rasha either. Mind explaining?”

    Romney’s real record,and what his cronies tell themselves.

    “Furthermore, you criticize Karen Hughes’s well-written article, one containing simple, cogent points, as false.
    Karen Hughes is someone who truly understands the office of the presidency. She’s seen it firsthand. She knows government and she knows the candidates and she knows the big players. She makes a clear, logical argument.”

    Karen Hughes is a political creature,you DO know what that means.

    “New York was second only to Pennsylvania on Tuesday in voting for Santorum.”

    I am currently a resident of a different state.There b”h jews everywhere,
    who see the bigger picture,
    are better informed than yourself,
    and without the moniker
    understand
    what ought to be done.

    “nd get with the program. Romney won. He’s a better candidate. And he’ll certainly make a better president than Obama. So vote for him and stop trying to convince others to do otherwise.”

    Sorry

  9. On further inspection, I retract my statement that the frum community had much to do with Santorum’s results in NY. It had much more to do with conservative upstate New York, particularly the counties bordering Pennsylvania. It is noteworthy, however, that Santorum did significantly better in Brooklyn than in the surrounding counties.

  10. AK/4:
    Has it ever occured to you that whether or not one is considered a good president is also in the hands of Hashem? What makes you state so positively the Mitt Romney will not be a good president? You have eyes in the future? Tell me more then!

  11. A. I’m not an outsider. I’m fully American, and happen to be overseas right now, but I will be back soon and I’m quite up to date on American politics, thank you very much.

    B. There is no such word as “genuousness”. Nice try though.

    C. There may be some frum Jews who are better informed than I am on politics and the issues, but they represent a small percentage at best.

    We are at a crucial point right now, both domestically and globally. Ever hear of the Economy? How about Iran? China maybe?
    Now is not the time to throw an electoral tantrum because your far-right social conservative lost to someone not quite as “frum” as you would have liked. (Of course that’s ignoring the fact that Romney is pretty religious. He served as a lay pastor for many years and personally tithes a much higher percentage of his income than, say, Santorum does.) Do we really want to leave the economy in Obama’s hands? Or Israel’s existential security?
    Talk about seeing the big picture. I’m looking at the forest, buddy. You’re looking at a single tree. (And whining about it, too.)

  12. ‘Former President Jimmy Carter believes Barack Obama will win a second term, but says he’d be “comfortable” with Mitt Romney in the White House because of the Republican’s past history as a “moderate.”‘

    In an interview on MSNBC, ..

  13. Here is a bet : any odds

    Go into the Chinese Embassy & throw a party.
    Get one of most anti american attaches drunk,then ask him who he wants to win the election.

    Answer:Romney

  14. Actually you lowered yourself many times. Every rant and whine you make against Romney portrays you as not only emotional, ideological and uninformed, but also as a sore loser.
    You can speculate all you want about drunken Chinese embassy attaches, but attempting to convince anti-Obama frum Jews to assist in his reelection, either actively or passively, is the act of someone with their head in their tuchus. Santorum won’t do it. Gingrich won’t do it. Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann won’t do it. You shouldn’t do it either.
    Grow up. Stop crying. Make the right choice like other conservatives are doing.

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