Is the issue with Mitt Romney and Mormonism Etch A Sketch related?
According to The Economist magazine, this unfortunate label is a result of the flexibility of Romney’s Mormon faith. Buddhists, though, like Mormons, are also “easy with the idea of a dogma that adapts.” The Dalai Lama is a strong proponent of adjusting the details of Buddhism to match the latest findings in science, especially those of psychology and neurology.
This natural questioning of Buddhism’s tenets extends from the religion’s earliest beginnings, yet no one would suggest that the Dalai Lama is a toy used for drawing ephemeral pictures. What separates the Dalai Lama from Mitt Romney—among many other things—is that beneath the subtle religious adjustments lies a core set of Buddhist values.
Mitt Romney lacks the Dalai Lama’s strong foundation. When you listen to Romney speak it’s easy to ask yourself, “Who is Mitt Romney?” You can certainly gain a glimpse of his political views, but much of his daily re-invention is a reaction to the 2012 polls.
When you watch him in action, you also get the strange feeling that his fluid surface passes all the way through. There is no solid core. No strong set of beliefs that ultimately drives his actions. Is the young Mitt Romney who worked at Bain Capital any different from the Mitt Romney navigating the blue tides of Massachusetts or the Mitt Romney battling with his conservative arch-rivals?
Mitt Romney and Mormonism: Etch a Sketch Upgraded to iPhone
In order to succeed—listen up Mitt Romney campaign—he needs to stop being an Etch A Sketch. That doesn’t mean, however, that Romney should become flagrantly narrow-minded like many of the other Republicans. The other candidates are, in fact, no less prone to changing their minds; but they are so emphatic with their statements and discourse, that no one really thinks about what they voted for two years ago (except perhaps, the Daily Show).
As a replacement for the antiquated technology of his childhood, Romney should strive to become something more akin to an iPhone. You can easily change its function by adding apps, or even alter how it looks by slipping on a new cover, but the core strength of the iPhone (its technology/values/beliefs) remains firmly in place.
Whenever you pick up an iPhone — whether it belongs to a teenager or a stockbroker or a Presidential candidate — you know exactly what you are getting, in spite of its hot pink cover and Angry Birds app.
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Photo by ThinkGeek.com
