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The public image of Mitt Romney refers to how Americans view Mitt Romney. Following his 2008 presidential campaign, Romney's personal and political appearance increased. Romney's values and affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) are significant factors in his public image and "Faith in America" speech.Mormon Mitt Romney not 'Christian,' says Fox News Host by Elizabeth Tenety, The Washington Post, July 18, 2011
Images of persona
Throughout his career, Romney has attempted to apply the "Bain way" in addressing political issues.Hewitt, A Mormon in the White House?, pp. 56–58. Romney has said, "There were two key things I learned at Bain. One was a series of concepts for approaching tough problems and a problem-solving methodology; the other was an enormous respect for data, analysis, and debate." He has written, "There are answers in numbers – gold in numbers. Pile the budgets on my desk and let me wallow." Romney believes the Bain approach is not only effective in the business realm but also in running for office and, once there, in solving political problems such as proper Pentagon spending levels and the future of Social Security. Former Bain and Olympics colleague Fraser Bullock has said of Romney, "He's not an ideologue. He makes decisions based on research data more deeply than anyone I know." Romney has consequentially gained a reputation as an economic policy wonk.
Romney also has a reputation for somewhat stilted, technocratic public appearances; in his public appearances during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign, he sometimes gave PowerPoint presentations rather than conventional speeches.Barone and Cohen, Almanac of American Politics 2004, p. 772. Furthermore, Romney has frequently relied on statistics as background for political positions in debates. Upon taking office he became, in the words of The Boston Globe, "the state's first self-styled CEO governor". Also available in HighBeam. Also available as "Romney took on 'outsider' role at helm of Bay State", Deseret Morning News, July 6, 2007. During his 2008 presidential campaign, he constantly asked for data, analysis, and opposing arguments, and has been described by Slate magazine as a potential "CEO president".
During 2011, The New York Times described Romney's persona as facts-driven, cautious, formal, socially stiff, and "spare with his emotions." In an interview with Parade in August 2012, Romney said: "There is a, I don't know, a societal norm that if you're running for office, you can't be emotional, and perhaps I bow to that too often."
Romney's choice of words and manner of speaking has also drawn attention. His use of words such as "guffaw," "brickbats," "dickens," "smitten," and "the big house," exclamations like "gosh," "golly," "darn," "heck," and the qualifier "if you will" led to The New York Times saying that he "can sometimes seem like an editor-in-chief, employing a language all his own. It is polite, formal, and at times anachronistic, linguistically setting apart a man who frequently struggles to sell himself to the American electorate." Friends and advisers have called his verbal quirks "Mittisms" and described his language as "old-timey", "1950s" and "the Gomer Pyle routine", while Democratic strategist David Axelrod once remarked that Romney "must watch Mad Men and think it's the evening news." Romney's Mormonism calls for abstinence from swearing, instead using phrases such as "good grief", "flippin'", "good heavens" and "for Pete's sake"; former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Thomas Finneran recalled that when annoyed, Romney would "let loose" with phrases like "go to H-E-double hockey sticks."
People magazine included Romney in its 50 Most Beautiful People list for 2002.
Some critics held Romney to be an out-of-touch multi-millionaire who cannot relate to middle-class America. For example, during the 2012 presidential election campaign, when Romney proposed a $10,000 wager with one of his opponents in a televised Republican primary debate, political rivals and others were quick to call the bet an example of what they argued was Romney's lack of understanding of the concerns of average Americans, who would never treat such a large sum of money so casually. Often in response to gaffes Romney had made on the campaign trail, political satirists based jokes on an image of Romney as a wealthy, pampered elitist. As comedian John Oliver on The Daily Show put it, "Everything about Romney tells the tale of a man who just fired your dad."
Images of political philosophy For much of his business career, Romney did not take public political stances.Hersh, The Shadow President, p. 139.Canellos, The Last Lion, p. 295. His early philosophical influences were often non-political, as during his missionary days when he read Napoleon Hill's self-help tome Think and Grow Rich, and encouraged his colleagues to do the same. Also available in HighBeam. Also available as , Deseret Morning News, July 2, 2007. Until 1993, he was registered as an Independent Also available in HighBeam. Also available as "Romney determined to make mark early", Deseret Morning News, July 4, 2007. who in the 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries had voted for the Democratic former senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas.
In the 1994 Senate race, Romney aligned himself with Republican Massachusetts Governor William Weld, saying "I think Bill Weld's fiscal conservatism, his focus on creating jobs and employment and his efforts to fight discrimination and assure civil rights for all is a model that I identify with and aspire to."
As a gubernatorial candidate in 2002, and then initially as Governor of Massachusetts, he generally operated in the mold established by Weld and followed by Weld's two other Republican successors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift: restrain spending and taxing, be tolerant or permissive on social issues, protect the environment, be tough on crime, try to appear post-partisan.Barone and Cohen, Almanac of American Politics 2004, p. 769.
Late in his term as governor, he shifted positions and emphases to better align with traditional conservatives on social issues.Balz and Johnson, The Battle for America 2008, p. 238.Heilemann and Halperin, Game Change, pp. 293–294. This increased alignment with traditional conservatives on social issues coincided with Romney's becoming a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for president. He said that learning from experience and changing views accordingly is a virtue, and that, "If you're looking for someone who's never changed any positions on any policies, then I'm not your guy." Romney responded to criticisms of ideological pandering with the explanation that "The older I get, the smarter Ronald Reagan gets."
Journalist Daniel Gross sees Romney as approaching politics in the same terms as a business competing in markets, in that successful executives do not hold firm to public stances over long periods of time, but rather constantly devise new strategies and plans to deal with new geographical regions and ever-changing market conditions. Political profiler Ryan Lizza notes the same question regarding whether Romney's business skills can be adapted to politics, saying that "while giving customers exactly what they want may be normal in the corporate world, it can be costly in politics". Writer Robert Draper holds a somewhat similar perspective: "The Romney curse was this: His strength lay in his adaptability. In governance, this was a virtue; in a political race, it was an invitation to be called a phony." Writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells sees Romney as a detached problem solver rather than one who approaches political issues from a humanistic or philosophical perspective. Journalist Neil Swidey views Romney as a political and cultural enigma, "the product of two of the most mysterious and least understood subcultures in the country: the Mormon Church and private-equity finance," and believes that has led to the continued interest in the "dog on the roof" story. Political writer Joe Klein views Romney as actually more conservative on social issues than he portrayed himself during his Massachusetts campaigns and less conservative on other issues than his presidential campaigns have represented, and concludes that Romney "has always campaigned as something he probably is not."
Religion Romney's religious background has been extensively covered by the mainstream media, especially in connection with his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. Romney is a member of the LDS Church, members of which are commonly known as Mormons or Latter-day Saints.
In addition to missionary work in France in the 1960s, under the tutelage of Wesley L. Pipes, Romney has served as a bishop and a stake president in his church. In accordance with LDS practice,Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Shepherds of Israel", Ensign, November 2003. bishops and stake presidents are lay positions in the LDS Church, so Romney was not compensated for his years of service in those positions. Also in accordance to his religious beliefs, Romney abstains from alcohol and smoking."Mitt Romney Wants to Re-Tool Washington; Mike Wallace Interviews the Contender for the GOP Presidential Nomination", 60 Minutes, CBS News, May 13, 2006 (retrieved December 3, 2007).
Romney's great-great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, was among the first leaders of the Latter Day Saint movement in the early 19th century. Marion G. Romney, his first cousin, once removed, was one of the church's twelve apostles. Romney's paternal great-grandparents practiced plural marriage, and went to Mexico in 1884 after the 1878 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. United States that upheld laws banning polygamy.Jennifer Dobner and Glen Johnson.
Romney's second great-grandmother, Elnora Lucretia Warner was one of five wives of Simon Cooker Dalton.
Romney's family tree has polygamy branch Associated Press via The Boston Globe. February 24, 2007. Subsequent generations of Romney's paternal lineage have been monogamous, and none of his mother's Mormon ancestors were polygamists."Polygamy Prominent in GOP Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney's Family Tree", Associated Press via Fox News, February 24, 2007.Neil Swidey and Michael Paulson,"Privilege, tragedy, and a young leader", The Boston Globe, June 24, 2007. Romney's father, George W. Romney, was a patriarch in the LDS Church. Romney's wife, Ann, converted to Mormonism before they were married in 1969.
Romney has expressed his faith in Jesus Christ as his "Lord and Savior" openly to evangelical Christian groups.Jose, Katharine P. ( March 28, 2008) 08 Hopeful Romney Assures Leading Evangelicals "Jesus Christ Is My Lord And Savior"....Huffington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2011. He has received support from evangelical Christians.Martin, Jonathan (July 28, 2011).Pat Robertson appears at Mitt Romney fundraiser. Politico, Retrieved July 29, 2011.
"Faith in America" speech Romney delivered his "Faith in America" speech on December 6, 2007, at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, with an introduction by George H. W. Bush. The speech, which was widely regarded as evoking that of Senator John F. Kennedy's September 1960 pledge not to allow Catholic doctrine to inform policy, discussed the role of religion in American society and politics.