Romney: Consultant-in-Chief

In last weekend's Wall Street Journal, there was an article describing how Romney's consulting background would shape a Romney presidency (link to the article)

An interesting excerpt from the article:

When asked for details about how he would reduce the size of government if elected, he mentions two things: The organizational chart of the executive branch, and consultants. "There's no corporation in America that would have a CEO, no COO, just a CEO, with 30 direct reports."

Running a government organized like this is, he explains, impossible. "So I would probably have super-cabinet secretaries, or at least some structure that McKinsey would guide me to put in place." He seems to catch a note of surprise in his audience, but he presses on: "I'm not kidding, I probably would bring in McKinsey. . . . I would consult with the best and the brightest minds, whether it's McKinsey, Bain, BCG or Jack Welch."

Romney goes on to mention how duplicative and wasteful government is, and talks about how he would "cut the fat". I think this is an interesting take on how to fix government, but how realistic is this in light of the discussion we had today? Government rarely shrinks, not even under avowed small-government politicians like Reagan. Given Romney's lack of inside-the-beltway experience, I really wonder whether he would really be able to pull this off.

But if Romney actually wins, I guess anything is possible.

Geoff Lewis

FBCI

Over the weekend I was thinking about something from last week's topic. It is small and relatively unimportant, but I was curious about it nonetheless. I was wondering about the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. I imagine it has played a significant role during the Bush presidency in catering to the religious voters. But I was thinking about the role this office would have in a Romney administration. Just how much does the religious preference of the president influence this office? Would Romney use this office to promote a Mormon faith-based agenda? Or would he specifically refrain from this? I also was thinking of what would happen in a Giuliani presidency, where faith clearly is not of much of importance. How would this office look under his stewardship? I guess I am wondering whether this office tends to be filled by members of the president's church, or if it is simply given (almost like a cabinet position) to someone who will please religious supporters.

Campaign Strategy in the Democratic Primary

According to this Politico article http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6816.html, it looks like Clinton and Obama are taking opposite strategies. Clinton opts for the partisan technique, rallying the base and "turning up the heat" against Republicans. Obama, on the other hand, is going for the "nation healed" motto and seeks to "reunite the country."

Why do you think these two candidates are going for these distinct strategies? What about Clinton makes "turning up the heat" more appropriate versus "a nation healed?" Also, what about the enviornment? When does the political enviornment call for a more conciliatory approach?

Also, does anyone know of examples in history where multiple candidates ganged up on the front runner in a primary and that front runner lost? If so, which underdog took the nomination? Has this proven to be a successful campaign strategy?