The MBA Candidate Meets the Mad-as-Hell Electorate

In theory, Mitt Romney is the beau ideal of a CEO President: the pioneering leader of Bain Capital who attained enormous success in business and government, and whose signature skill—turning around troubled companies—is a sterling credential in a time of economic stagnation. George W. Bush once claimed to be the MBA President, to everyone’s eventual embarrassment. Romney’s the real thing, which is a big reason why he came to be seen by voters as the most electable Republican.

Sure enough, his career has become the central issue in the campaign. But the focus hasn’t been the appeal of an executive applying his knowhow to government. Instead, attention has fallen mainly on the collateral damage inflicted by private equity firms and the preferential tax treatment given to those who have amassed fortunes running them. Rather than standing for what’s best about business, Romney is being held up as typifying what’s worst.