This republican primary cycle of 2012, so far, seems to be all about connection. Governor Mitt Romney was the presumptive nominee, the heir apparent, for the Republican presidential candidate from the beginning. He is still the heir apparent but having a very interesting time closing the deal because of, well, the connection problem.
Connection with the proverbial 1 percent is no problem, but the other 99 percent is problematic, and there lies the question of why. As of 2/29/12, the Republican primary is probably going to continue for a few more months with the connection problem looming over Romney.
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Come to think of it, connection is not just Romney's problem. It has been with us, yes, from the beginning. Novels, poems, and songs throughout history are filled with missed or failed connections, and, of course, the connections at the first sight. There are words we wanted to say but didn't or couldn't; there are words delivered but lost; and then, there are connections without words. Wow, this connection sounds mysterious.
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Calling something mysterious and ending the conversation is no fun because, then, there is no more communication. The pleasure is in nailing down this connection thing, hopefully, with a lot of noise from many people. One memorable line from the movie, Cool Hand Luke, is "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." Of course, Luke's failure to communicate in a Florida prison camp is quite different from Romney's "What we've got here is a failure to connect."
Luke had humor, courage, spirit, and independence which the audience could connect with passion but his ultimate wisdom, patience, perspective, and vision are in question. Romney has the brain, ambition, and resources, but where his true passion lies is in question. The successful connection is not an easy task. It seems, almost, like you have to be born with it.
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In a 21st century frame of mind, a talent born with is understood but is not the whole story. President Obama has the passion and brain, that is why he can connect with a majority of American people. We can safely assume he was born with brain and ambition. Passion is, also and probably, born with but where you place your passion is your conscious decision.
Here, I'm making a distinction between passion and ambition. Wanting to be a president is an ambition but what you want to do as a president is a passion. Clearly, passion has to come before ambition. The general public senses which comes first for a particular candidate. Where there is a genuine passion, there is the connection.
The concept of connection is not a simple one to define and understand. Cool Hand Luke's type of connection may be cool at the gut level but a Presidential candidate needs the gut level connection plus a clear vision for American promise that, also, connect easily.
Connection goes further than conversation or communication. It is a conversation, and communication with feel, understanding, and sharing. To feel, understand, and share, we need to study, think, and absorb what people's needs and wants are. The world is full of different needs and wants, a President should have a very good grasp of this to connect with the majority and lead that majority to his vision.
The ability to connect is an acquired one, earned from contemplative and heart-aching life experiences. If you want to lead you have to have the reason and passion gained from life and inscribed in your bone. One thing for sure is you can not earn this with just blind ambition to be a leader. I wish good luck to governor Romney with a lot of empathy, and hope he still has time to earn the ability to connect.
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