People tend to vote for people like themselves, and in a representative democracy, I suppose that's ok, since we are supposed to elect people who represent us. And while Mitt Romney and I actually have very little in common, I believe that there will never again in my lifetime be a presidential candidate with whom I have more in common than the Mittster.
Sure, I am not a millionaire, and I have neither the hair nor the handsomeness that he has. I have not his Cadillacs nor his Mustang (I never will, if not by force, then at least by choice). I have not his apparent health, nor the lakeside mansion in New Hampshire, nor the beachfront property in California. I have not his business acumen, nor do I share his view that (cringe) corporations are people. I have not his penchant for building fences to keep Mexicans out. I do not blame faculty lounges for the ills of America (there aren't any... lounges, that is). My father was not a cabinet member, governor, or self-made millionaire. I did not go to Harvard and share a class with George W. Bush. The ambassador to France was not a family friend when I was growing up, and Richard Nixon did not come to my ring ceremony. My wife does not ride horses, and her father was not the mayor. I do not care for cars. I was never an AP, and I never had a near-death experience resulting from a drunken priest's reckless driving.
And yet...
like Mitt...
I, too, met my wife when I was 18 and she was just shy of 16 (the odds! the coincidence!). I, too, am a lifelong Mormon, with a convert AND French-major wife (quelle coincidence!) and come from a family of four children. I, too, have a parent who was born outside the United States. I, too, was a missionary in France, and came home and got some Ivy League degrees. I, too, am a Republican with some left-leaning flavor. I, too, have sung my whole life and like to sing. I, too, have a wife who makes granola the staple of our breakfasts. When you consider the statistical (un)likelihood of finding all of these uncanny compatibilities between a major presidential candidate and yourself, how can you not consider seriously voting for such a person? I mean, this is exactly the guy I would want to represent me in the White House, the person I would most like to share a (root) beer with, right?
Too bad I like Huntsman better.
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I like Huntsman better too. The hope is always that if Romney wins the nomination, his views will start to veer more towards making sense. You first paragraph--what you don't have in common with Mitt--is the deal breaker, because it has to do with class, which seems to me the biggest divide in America at the moment.
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