Memo to Mitt

How dare you blow this election!

The country has never needed a new president more than it does today.  I could list all the reasons why President Obama has failed on jobs and the economy, defense and national security, leadership and international prestige-- but you've been doing that ad-nauseum, and it's still not broken Barack Obama's lead in the polls.

As you head into your coronation in Tampa as the Republican Party Nominee, you've got to shift gears.  Rupert Murdoch said it first, the Wall Street Journal second, and your own biggest blogger-backers are telling you: It's time to clear your throat.

I am not among those who want you to "humanize" who you are, or "show your likable angles" to the voters.  In fact the voters could care less.  In 2008, they went with their gut and hired the guy they liked best, and onto whom they imbued and assigned their best hopes without any reason to do so.

Your astute and charming wife has sought to solve your "likability" shortfall by saying cute things about you you shouldn't say yourself.  The voters may really like Ann Romney, but they could care less if you are fun to be around when they don't have time to shoot the breeze like they used to.

Pure and simple, the voters have not "latched" to you because at this ripe stage of the campaign cycle you are still talking about the problem-- President Obama.  Tell us something we don't know!  Unusual as it sounds to the legions of political image makers who surround you and muffle your voice, this election is only about your solutions to our nation's mounting problems.

Allow me a brief illustration.  There's a current flowing out of your campaign that says you'd be a better president because of your business experience, that you've met a payroll and made tough decisions.  That isn't a bad "narrative," mind you, but it's a "why" not a "what."  People who voted for Obama in 2008 now tell us it was because he had a "compelling narrative."

Compelling narratives are only compelling if voters are in the mood for a fairy tale-- which they were in 2008-- not when they're still struggling four years later, still out of work, unable to pay their debts, and can't make retirement decisions.

Folks don't want a compelling narrative in 2012, they just want answers.

When the bereft opposition moans about Bain Capital, don't apologize.  But don't explain, either.  Instead say, "It's true, I have gotten rich by fixing failed managements.  I come before you with my offer to fix the failed Obama government.  Here is exactly what I will do..."

So instead of telling voters why they should vote for you, next time you open your mouth, tell them what you will do-- to jump-start the moribund economy, encourage banks to lend again, and assure businesses they are safe to hire again.  Tell us what you will do to regulatory agencies that have strangled and punished small business.  Tell us which taxes you will cut, not why you like tax cuts.  Tell us which programs you will end, not why you don't like them.  See the difference?

As long as I'm giving advice on what to say, don't say another word about healthcare or the Supreme Court unless you tell what changes you will make to it.  Saying you will "repeal and replace" doesn't cut it, and the less time you spend sprucing-up the Obama agenda, the better-off you will be.

For that matter, don't say another word about any subject if you are not telling us what you will do about it.  Voters are past being told, "I understand, here's a(nother) problem..."  Trust me, they know.  All they want to hear from you is what you will do.  You still have their attention, barely.  Now use short, specific sentences with clear verbs and you will notice a huge difference in the polls.