An Ironic Moment from the Michigan GOP Debate
John’s post earlier this week about the role of humility, juxtaposed with the ongoing theme of tension between the Romney and Perry camps over religious issues, makes this Kathleen Parker column all the more interesting:
As Perry was free-falling into the abyss of lost thoughts Wednesday night, he turned to his fellow contestants as if to say, “Please, someone, can’t you tell me what I think?”Unhelpfully, Ron Paul suggested there were really five agencies he should cut. And then someone did try to help him, and this to me was the most memorable moment of the evening. From somewhere on the panel, a voice reached out to the struggling Texan, a suggestion that might help Perry gather himself and emerge from this utter humiliation.
The voice belonged to Mitt Romney. As Perry’s brain was hardening into arctic pack ice, Romney suggested that maybe the third agency he wanted to eliminate was the EPA. Yeah, that’s it! But no, it wasn’t. Pressed by Harwood, Perry said it wasn’t the EPA, but blast if he could remember what it was. (Later he said it was Energy.)
Romney’s suggestion when most of the others were squirmingly silent was an act of pure kindness and self-sacrificing generosity. It was not especially noticeable. But if you were Rick Perry in that moment, you were well aware that Romney was the one who tried to save you. When Perry finally said, “Oops,” it was Romney toward whom he looked.
Small, but not insignificant, this gesture of active empathy tells much about the man who extended it. He’s a nice guy in a season of nastiness, a trait that may also be his greatest political failing.
Read the whole thing.
Posted in Religious Bigotry, Understanding Religion | 3 Comments » | 
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Retrocon on 11 Nov 2011 at 9:56 pm #
I noticed the same thing at the time, and wondered if anyone else would pick up on the fact that someone — that someone being Romney — tried to actually help Gov. Perry out of his embarrassment, rather than watch him twist in the wind.
The moderator, John Harwood, described later that his producers caught on to Perry’s plight and told Harwood to “stay with it”. Everyone could see Perry was drawing a blank and (inexplicably) could not seem to move on. (Usually one would expect that in a circumstance like this that the person would quickly move on, saying something like “It’ll come to me in a moment.”, but Perry couldn’t get out of the rut. Romney extended a hand, hoping to pull him out and provide cover for Perry.
JLF9999 on 12 Nov 2011 at 10:07 am #
For several years now I have tried unsuccessfully to decide just what I felt and believed about Mitt Romney. I knew from my personal experience that an LDS bishop was sometimes a cold and distant figure and was not on my list of people I would seek out if I was in trouble. I knew my thinking was out of sync, and probably still is, with what I was supposed to be thinking. So when Mitt arrived on the scene I looked at him in that light – the cold and distant bishop.
Intellectually I knew not all bishops are like that but still that image is so firmly set in my subconscious that it has followed me all my life. But something has changed. I am not sure what it was but Mitt Romney no longer fits that image. Maybe it is the anxt I felt watching Rick Perry struggle with his brain feeze and Mitt struggling to help him. I think we all felt troubled over that. Even though I am not a Perry supporter I too wanted to reach out to the man to help him find the words he lacked. Maybe it was knowing Mitt reached out to Rick that was the turning point. I don’t know. Whatever it was, something inside me has changed.
As I struggled to put voice to what I was thinking, another image has emerged – that of a passionate, loving father struggling in his own right to be the man and leader his family desperately needs. I can relate to that. From now on I suppose that is the new image I will have of Mitt Romney, that of the father struggling with his own imperfections to be the fatherly leader his nation needs.
coltakashi on 12 Nov 2011 at 11:06 am #
A poll was just reported which showed that 50% of Republicans, regardless of who they favor as a candidate, think Romney will be the nominee, way out ahead of anyone else. Romney is acting like the leader of his party, knowing that his job will require him to seek the endorsement and support of his rivals, and maybe include offering one of them as his VP.
Peggy Noonan’s column in the WSJ today points out that Republicans will need to get serious soon, and remember they are not electing a president, but nominating a candidate who must go on and persuade independents and even some Democrats to vote for him. I think that poll indicates that many of them realize the difference between having a fun party where they take turns hearing their own ideas reflected back to them, and actually taking control of the Executive Branch of government in a free election that lets other people vote.