Old Line Elephant Maryland Conservative Blog

The Competent Businessman

In 1992 a quirky Texas businessman named Ross Perot decided to run for President. He threw around pie charts, touted his business sense, and proposed all manner of bipartisan reforms to help get the deficit under control. He received 19% of the popular vote in the general election as a third party candidate. In 1992, I was 9 years old, but I was already intrigued by this "competent businessman" - a candidate model I've seen a number of times since.

In 2010, a relatively unknown Republican by the name of Brian Murphy decided to run for Governor against the fairly well known former Governor Bob Ehrlich in the gubernatorial primary here in Maryland. He was a businessman with experience turning businesses around that I found fascinating. I was an Ehrlich guy early on, but I decided to hear Murphy out at a candidate forum - he did not disappoint. His rhetoric about cutting spending, his specific discussion of budgetary issues, his tax cut ideas - they all reeled me in. Add to that the fact that Murphy had experience working with budgets, dealing with red tape, cutting spending, etc all in the business end made me interested. It was after the second time hearing him speak that I officially jumped on board, I voted for him in the primary.

In this "pre-primary" Presidential election season, I've been most impressed with...Herman Cain (if you haven't noticed by my commentary here and at Race42012). Why? Much of the same reasons as above - he talks the talk, promotes good business sense, and is fiercely fiscally conservative. He also comes with proven experience turning businesses around - and that's part of the draw to the competent businessman as a candidate.

The competent businessman is a candidate that we sometimes see in Republican primaries. They're conservative in rhetoric and have experience in the private sector dealing with budgets. This is a draw to conservatives. Why? Well, first - they have proven experience dealing with budgets, spending, etc. This executive experience is incredibly useful when going into the public sector in such roles as County Executive, Governor, and President. Even at a small scale, that's more than most members of Congress will ever have. That and small scale budgetary issues still apply to the larger scale of the government.

Next, these competent businessmen have seen the problems that conservatives keep complaining about. All the red tape, all the government involvement in business, all the increased taxes, all the problems small businesses face - the competent executive candidate felt that pain, dealt with those issues, seen what they can do. The competent executive coped with them and saw that they were destructive firsthand. With their own experience, they are able to seriously discuss these issues not from a theoretical standpoint, but from a practical one. That resonates among voters who are able to relate more when a candidate has a personal story than when they talk 100% in axioms.

Third, they don't have governmental experience. I know, that seems counter-intuitive, many want government experience in a candidate to show that they've worked well inside of government. I don't necessarily feel that way. Government experience can lead to jaded individuals who know nothing except for how to be in government. As a conservative, I'm also wary of government involvement. Someone with governmental experience may have been there before, but they also could have been part of the problem in the past. With governmental experience comes the opportunity to disappoint voters with a poor voting record, or poor public statements / ideas regarding their issues. No governmental experience means that the competent executive runs on the merit of their business sense and their platform, whatever that may be, on the issues of the day. It allows them the flexibility to be candidates that fit what voters are looking for, without a record to prove that wrong. There's no way to flip-flop as an outsider, there's no record for comparison.

On the flip side, the problem with being from the outside of government is that they may have unrealistic ideas of what can and can't be done by a person inside. While running the government like a business would be better than the way it's run now, there are certain limitations to that. Sometimes the competent businessman can miss those things while running, promising things which they can't follow through on.

One of the other draws, at least for me, to the competent businessman is that they prove the American Dream is real. Especially those success stories, such as those of Herman Cain and Brian Murphy, who came from nothing to the place they are at now, is inspiring. It reaffirms the conservative mindset that if you play by the rules and work your hardest, you can achieve anything. Their lives, often times, help prove that.

The competent businessman candidate has a lot to offer to conservative voters. They make real the business issues we care about; they bring competency to the table in a real world setting; and they help prove the American dream works. Their downfall is part of their draw, their lack of governmental experience. A competent businessman candidate who has a firm grip on government's role can prove successful in elections: see LePage in Maine and Scott in Florida. One who doesn't, may end up disappointing his or her supporters.

With all that said - I still fall for and probably will vote for more competent businessmen in the future. Their stories, their business sense, and their competency are appealing to me and, frankly, I'm a little tired of the same old politicians. I've seen what these insiders can do - give me an outsider next election.