I'm a bit puzzled by the release -- read it at Time's Swampland blog! buy it at Amazon! -- of the transition plans for the Romney presidency:
In the months before the 2012 election, a group of high-powered consultants and political operatives prepared a secret report for candidate Mitt Romney, explaining how he should take over and restructure the federal government should he win the presidency.The report is already being justifiably mocked for how blatantly it flies the (gray) flannel:
...On May 29, the Romney Readiness Project, the Republican candidate's transition organization known as R2P, published a 138-page report detailing how it prepared for a potential Romney victory. It is the product of a team of nearly 500, who labored in Washington and around the country to be ready to help Romney assume the reins of power on January 20th, 2013....
"The White House staff is similar to a holding company" read one PowerPoint slide, which would have been presented to President-elect Romney as part of an expansive briefing on the morning after Election Day....But I think it's meant to impress us, not make us laugh (even though we already knew about the alleged brilliance this project after word of it was spoon-fed to the press shortly after the election).
Among the recommendations for the Romney administration:
* Corporate-style training seminars were planned for appointees and nominees before the inauguration to teach management skills.
* A plan to restructure White House operations to suit Romney's corporate management style, with clear deliverables....
The fact that the report emerges the same week as an Ann Romney interview on CBS makes me wonder if Mitt is trying to get back in the game. I he hoping to run for senator or governor somewhere? And if so, where? Massachusetts? New Hampshire? Michigan? Utah? California? So many potential home states to choose from.
But I think I speak for much of America when I say: Mitt, just stay away.
*****
UPDATE: Headline typo fixed.
