Interesting analysis, but flawed in one critical area. Steven refers only to the earliest part of Mitt Romney's career, which was at Bain and Company. And true, during that part of his career he advised senior management and CEO's about how to run their companies better.
But the major part of his business career was spent at Bain Capital, which is an entirely different entity (though spawned from the same roots), and there he was not an advisor but a creator and leader -- not just of Bain Capital (which he started from scratch) but also of a whole variety of companies including Staples.
What's more, he has proven his abilities as a Chief Executive Officer time and time again.
--At Bain Capital as its CEO and founder, he built one of the most successful venture capital and private equity firms of all time.
--He returned to Bain and Company as its CEO at a time when the consulting firm was in deep distress and led an impressive rescue effort that restored the firm to its former glory.
--He took over as, in effect, CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were in deep, deep trouble...and put together a team that not only rescued the games but made them a shining star in the wake of 9/11, when the nation desperately needed confidence building.
--He was CEO, in effect, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when it was $3 billion in deficit. His top-to-bottom shakeup of state government more than balanced the budget...and he put together some important bipartisan initiatives in health care and education, despite the fact that he was a Republican governor working with an 85% Democratic state legistature.
To say that Mitt Romney doesn't have executive makeup and is only capable of advising senior managers is patently preposterous. Of every candidate in the 2008 presidential race, no one has half the leadership, problem-solving, and executive experience that Mitt Romney has. He has done it with small teams in tiny startups (Staples was one little store in Brighton, Massachusetts and a dream when he got involved), with a virtual international Tower of Babel in the Olympics, with a hostile legislature.
Trying to type-cast a man by what his skill set was during his first 10 years of business is like looking at John McCain's years in a Vietnam prison camp and saying he was antisocial in his formative years because he didn't get out much.
The breadth and depth of Mitt Romney's leadership experience under difficult circumstances -- repeated again and again -- stands head and shoulders above that of the other candidates.