What Romney Doesn't Get

What Mitt Romney doesn't seem to understand or can't admit to himself yet is that the wealthy individual and corporate interests that control the Republican Party don't mind if Barack Obama wins. That's why there have been so many debates sponsored by media outlets and organizations that are sympathetic to or controlled by those powerful interests. For months those debates have put marginal candidates together on stages where they all looked like they were equally credible and gave them equal time to espouse their fringe views and tear each other apart. It was entertaining. It resulted in a fragmented Republican electorate. But most important of all, it distracted the public from what was going on in the halls of power.

While the debates and campaigning have been going on, the lobbyists, elected representatives, administrative agencies, and the President have been carrying on just as they have for years, happy that the public wasn't paying attention. The monied interests have been getting what they want from the Obama administration. He has proven to be a reliable ally who is willing to go along with their schemes and grant their selfish wishes. Theoretically, Romney might prove to be an even greater friend of the elite, but why would they want to risk that he wouldn't be as compliant as Obama has been? History has taught us that, once in office, Presidents can act in very unexpected ways. Just like Obama has.

Although most of the polls show that, among the Republican candidates, Romney has the best chance of winning an election against Obama, the polls also show that Romney might lose to Obama. The big money doesn't have any real reason to bet on Romney and risk losing. They are better off putting their money behind Obama and making sure he wins.

Romney isn't the first candidate who is going to have to come to grips with the reality that our politics, and therefore our government, are controlled by people who don't care about party affiliation or principles as much as they care about control. Over the years, plenty of candidates in both the Republican and Democratic parties have been sold out by people who were more concerned with how they would benefit from an election than how the results of the election would affect the country.

Romney will probably view the defection of the aristocracy as a betrayal. He shouldn't. He is one of them. He knows how the game is played.

The bulk of Republican voters, however, probably expect more from the people who pull the strings in their party. But when Romney loses, they won't be angry at their own leaders, because they won't know or won't admit what happened. They will blame the liberal media, George Soros, Blacks, Mexicans who can't even vote, Jews, and the rest of their usual demons for misleading the voters and stealing the election, because that is who the wealthy individual and corporate interests that control the Republican Party will tell them is at fault.

Things could change between now and the election. If Obama's popularity slips, the power brokers could turn on him and back Romney. Some of them are already quietly supporting both candidates, so that regardless of who wins the election, their influence remains intact. But as it stands now, Romney is the designated sacrifice. He'll campaign hard and he'll win some votes. But he'll lose, because regardless of what the Republican Party platform says and regardless of what Republican voters want, the folks who really decide these things have already made their choice, Obama, a President who has proven that he will do what he is told to do.