Should America Be Run Like A Business?

The ability to analyze a political situation from a business perspective has its clear plusses. Romney and Cain haven’t merely talked about utilizing their business experience in running the country; they have demonstrated it in action.

In 1994 as head of the National Restaurant Association Herman Cain challenged President Bill Clinton at a nationally publicized town hall meeting in Kansas City. Cain disputed Clinton’s reassurances that his proposal for health care reform would not harm American business owners and their employees.

“Quite honestly Mr. President your calculations are incorrect” he said. “In the competitive marketplace it simply doesn’t work that way.” Cain’s skepticism resonated with the public and Newsweek later credited him as a “primary saboteur of Hillary-care.” In his first year as Massachusetts governor in 2003 the Democratic legislature rejected Romney’s management-based recommendations for a radical overhaul of the state educational system. As a CEO Romney might have issued a directive and brooked no opposition. But politics isn’t like that and Romney learned a lesson from it. In his last year in office in 2007 Romney again applied business methods to evaluate a problem though this time the approach was more pragmatic and attuned to the realities of state politics.

The effort resulted in passage of a new law — to provide for universal health care. Of course what may have been a notable success in Massachusetts may be viewed differently by voters in a Republican primary. The point is that Romney learned to transform managerial expertise into political clout.