The current debate over Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital is shaping up to be a centerpiece of the presidential campaign. The Romney campaign should have seen this coming. If Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry were willing to rip Romney for being too capitalistic in a Republican primary, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to expect that Barack Obama and Joe Biden would happily do the same in the general election. Moreover, if you are going to campaign on the idea that you were a private-sector job creator, it’s certainly fair game for your opponents to investigate the claim. That doesn’t mean I think President Obama’s attacks are fair, accurate or persuasive, but that’s something for voters to figure out for themselves.
Still, I find myself in a rare moment of agreement with liberal columnist E.J. Dionne, who writes that this argument might spark a useful debate on what kind of capitalism we want. Borrowing a term from Germany’s Christian Democrats – one widely accepted across much of Europe – Dionne says we need to build a “social market” as opposed to what he calls an “anti-social market.” “Social” is one of those loaded terms that sounds pleasant enough but presupposes a very large role for the state in our lives. For instance, “Julia,” the fictional Everywoman the Obama campaign is touting as the typical beneficiary of progressive government, lives in a social market. And, therefore, the government heavily influences not just her wages and health care but her career, recreational activities and even her childbearing decisions. “Under President Obama: Julia decides to have a child,” one slide explains with a dry creepiness.
Di seguito lo spot elettorale per la rielezione del presidente Obama intitolato “Julia”, corredato da una intelligente analisi;
L’articolo prosegue sull’ American Enterprise Institute
