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8/27/12 5:2Mitt Romney outlines governing plan - POLITICO.com Print View

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Mitt Romney outlines governing planBy: Jim VandeHei and Mike AllenAugust 27, 2012 04:30 AM EDT

POWELL, Ohio Mitt Romney conceded President Barack Obama has succeeded inmaking him a less likable person, but he offered a defiant retort to those hoping he willopen up this week: I am who I am.

(Also on POLITICO: Mitt Romney through the years)

Romney quoted that Popeye line three times in a 30-minute interview with POLITICOabout his leadership style and philosophy, swatting away advice from Republicans tofocus on connecting with voters in a more emotional, human way at this convention.Instead, he vowed to keep his emphasis in the campaign and any administration tofollow on a relentlessly goal-driven, business-minded approach that has shaped his lifeso far.

I know there are some people who do a very good job acting and pretend theyresomething theyre not, Romney said. You get what you see. I am who I am.

To press the point, he said the GOP would even try to turn Obamas still-high personal

favorability rankings back on him at its convention this week, by making the simple case tovoters: nice guy, failed president.

I dont think everybody likes me, Romney said. I dont believe that, by any means. But Ido believe that people of this country are looking for someone who can get the countrygrowing again with more jobs and more take-home pay, and I think they realize thispresident had four years to do that. He got every piece of legislation he wantedpassed, and it didnt work. I think they want someone who has a different record, and Ido.

Romney pledged to bring corporate order to the West Wing. He promised to issue a

checklist for his first 100 days, similar to the printed scorecard he used in Massachusetts;treat his Cabinet like a board of directors; and try to restart the economy using the hands-on management style that made him hundreds of millions of dollars.

(Also on POLITICO: Full Republican National Convention coverage)

Romneys answers were the clearest window yet into how the lessons he gained in thecorporate world would be applied to the presidency. He revealed, for the first time, howsome of those views were shaped, saying:
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Bill Bain, the founder of Bain Capital, and J.W. Bill Marriott, a fellow Mormon andthe CEO of the hotel chain carrying his name, are the most effective leaders he hasever been around: I learned leadership by watching people.

Biographies, not business books, inspire his thinking, saying tears welled up whenhe finished reading David McCulloughs work on John Adams.

His Cabinet would be dominated by people from the private sector, citing MegWhitman of Hewlett-Packard as a model for female leaders he would like tosurround himself with.

Debra L. Lee, the CEO of Black Entertainment Television, is also a leader he wouldtake a close look at, though he couldnt recall her name, just her title: From allreports, a highly effective manager.

He rarely spends time thinking through past decisions or missteps made, which isone reason he has no regrets about the birth certificate joke: I dont look back. Idont look back.

Still, during the interview, Romney made plain he is tired of the criticism that he is stiff,distant or not broadly liked by voters.

Again and again, he argued that he was likable enough to bring together people ofdivergent views to rescue the Olympics, pioneer profit-making ideas at Bain, govern aDemocratic state and even to win over peers in school.

I was voted the president of my fraternity, he said. They dont call them fraternities atBrigham Young University. Theyre called Service Clubs. It was the Cougar Club. But youdont get voted to be head of your group if you dont get along with people, if you dont

connect with people.

(Also on POLITICO: 2012 swing-state map)

The issue seems close to the surface for Romney. He even used the same line in aninterview with Fox News that aired Sunday: Remember that Popeye line: I am what I amand thats all what I am, he told Fox.

Rather than conceding a flaw or missing political gene, however, Romney blamed theoppositions advertising for his likability gulf.

What has been the focus of the Obama ads? Romney told POLITICO. Do they talkabout my record in Massachusetts? Do they talk about my policy? No, theyre all personalattack ads that in some respects say not only outrageous but entirely wrong things.People dont know me, and they havent had a chance to see me yet, [so] they mightbelieve those things. So, thats going to have some influence. I understand that.

Certainly, their ads have some impact or they wouldnt be running them, he continued.But there would be an opportunity for people to get to know me better during the debatesand during the time in the campaign season when people are actually paying a lot of
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attention to the candidates.

For better or worse and the final 10 weeks of the campaign will test whether its betteror worse in the minds of undecided voters Romney sees life, business and governingas an exercise in problem-solving, not connecting with a truck driver in Ohio, truebelievers in the GOP and even his own staff.

(PHOTOS: 14 surprising things banned from the Republican National Convention)

His language, his approach, his mannerisms convey: I am not asking you to trust me tosee into your soul, or to feel your pain, or bring you hope and fuzzy change. I will bringyou concrete, measurable, profitable change the kind you can authentically take stockof, and even measure in your familys bank account.

Romney, who this week watched Obamas 2008 convention speech again, said the lofty,theatrical address loaded with promises never kept provides the perfect device for

juxtaposing his leadership style with the presidents.

When they take the podium in Tampa this week during the Republican National

Convention, both Romney and his running mate, House Budget Committee ChairmanPaul Ryan (R-Wis.) plan to explicitly deconstruct the promises Obama made four yearsago in front of the Greek columns on stage in Denver.

I havent finished my speech yet, so Im in the very early process of my speech, but mostof what Im speaking about is the great distinction between the course I would take andthe course the president would take, he said.

(PHOTOS: 5 crazy convention moments)

I happen to know that he will deliver an eloquent speech [at the Democratic National

Convention next week in Charlotte, N.C.]. I havent seen it, but I know it will be eloquent. Iknow it will have grand promises. What I hope people do is remember what he said inDenver, and look to the promises there and compare that with the record, and they willsay he promised one thing and did entirely different things.

Romneys point: You had love, you had hero worship, you had emotion. How did that workout?

What is most striking about his own governing plans is the corporate, metrics-drivenapproach he feels can be applied to the federal government.

It is my practice to meet with people that share responsibility for some type of enterpriseand to establish very clear goals and objectives, so they know what theyre toaccomplish.

He would take a hands-on, CEO approach to the job. I likewise do not like having asolution presented to me for approval. Instead, Id much rather dig into the issue myselfand hear alternative viewpoints on the issue and be able to reach a decision. This soundsvery similar to Obamas decision-making preference and one that White Houseveterans say is virtually impossible to implement because of the dizzying number of
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decisions a president makes each day.

Yet for all of his emphasis on rolling up his sleeves in decision making, Romney said hisbiggest struggle is organization. He called it his flat side, and said, Tom Stemberg ofStaples uses that term to describe a persons weaknesses.

I think one of the things I dont do terribly well is to be highly organized and follow acalendar precisely, he said, noting this helps explain why Beth Myers, his top aide, is soinvaluable in his life.

So he will delegate, as needed, to a team very heavy on private-sector experience.Having people who have actually run things in the private sector or who have beenactively involved in the private sector will be of real interest to me, he said.

(PHOTOS: Whos who in Tampa)

Romney said that one of his challenges would be not knowing all the personalities thereas I might. I dont know each of the senators, particularly on the other side of the aisle. Idont know all the congressmen and women, and one of the advantages of having Paul

Ryan as part of the team is he does know those people well.

This is where political experience will come into play as he fills out his administration.There may also be people who have public experience, Washington experience, whomight be able to navigate the waters in a way that an all private-sector team would not beable to do, Romney said.

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mitt romney outlines governing plan - politico.com print view

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