Mitt Romney, Rory Stewart and the tragedy of politics

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At least he doesn’t have to podcast. The king’s ransom he pays Bain Capital will ensure that. Whatever disappointments, insults, and mortal threats American politics has brought to Mitt Romney, his retirement doesn’t have to be spent asking people to leave reviews on iTunes.

As well as age, this is what sets him apart from Rory Stewart, who is otherwise similar to him in the UK. Everyone takes a stand against the blond demagogue while other conservatives take a knee. Eventually, each one failed. But in doing so, each illuminated an eternal truth about politics, one that business people struggle to grasp.

There is no reward for being correct.As governor of Massachusetts, Romney’s health care reforms inspired Obamacare, which has now become a major component of Obamacare. About 60% of the public supports. It’s not the biggest vindication on his record.A decade before a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he viewed Russia as a geopolitical threats. The current president’s response was a joke.

And then there was his (final) opposition to Donald Trump. It would be inappropriate to praise him too much here. In 2012, he climbed onto the then-host apprentice Seeked presidential endorsement, and got it. As late as 2018, he was still undecided. But when the moral was clear, he used physical courage to act on it. Romney voted to convict Trump in both impeachment trials.

Stewart was even more correct, earlier, and more. He knows that Brexit is a bad idea; that joining the customs union, once voted through, is sensible in itself and faithfully reflects the close referendum result; and that Boris Johnson will bring disgrace to the premiership.

Less well known are his speeches in Parliament over the past decade.The following are relevant warnings Defense spending is low And much of Europe is still trumpeting soft power.he feels bleak about it afghanistan mission Back in the 2000s, but also involving a quick exit in 2021. In the field of investment, people with such a forecasting record will receive sufficiently generous returns even if they do not reach the level of Poussin wealth collection. In a world of politics where money is power, it reached its pinnacle during his two months as international development minister.

I have no sympathy for any one person. Games are games. Romney is often the creator of fads, even dodging his own medical records when appropriate. Stewart ultimately isn’t the nation’s leading fiber. Like many lone wolves who later became popular (the podcast he co-hosts, The rest is politics, was a huge success), but he was too eager to keep it that way. This month he told remaining members of Jeremy Corbyn’s movement that it was hard on their people. To use his favorite word, such pandering does not exude “seriousness.”

But if these men are not tragic figures, their stories do reveal that politics is a tragic artifice: an incentive system that provides no rightness.

This newspaper at the nexus of politics and business is a great place to look at what each world misunderstands about the other. Even the most informed people in the private sector are guilty of two things about politics. First, they don’t understand fanaticism. They will never know those with a ruthless commitment to abstract principles in negotiated deals enforced by commercial courts. Maybe some companies are starting to understand this type of culture as they let it stay.

But the bigger mistake is to believe that politics, like business, is a meritocracy: one’s decision-making record must determine one’s career prospects. No need to spell out why this is bullshit. Most political judgments have no quantifiable value, no “price.” While it is metaphysically certain that buying a stock achieves the stated goal, things are always controversial in public life. If there were Russian tanks on Constitution Avenue, Romney would still be accused of not seeing the Kremlin’s perspective.

The story of Winston Churchill is so fascinating to us because he was not only vindicated by a policy of appeasement, but he also rose to high office. Like a Frank Capra film, it shows that natural justice rules the universe. But in fact, it’s not. Rishi Sunak thinks Brexit is a smart idea. He is the British Prime Minister. Keir Starmer campaigned for Corbyn. He is the most likely successor. Stewart has a half decent podcast.

“But history will be kind,” he and Romney must keep hearing. so what? Which heavenly bank are they cashing that particular check at? What consolation is this for us who live in a country so poorly led?

janan.ganesh@ft.com

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