THE RESULTS ARE IN

I applaud Neil Swidey’s Perspective (November 11) on Mitt Romney’s loss. As I entered the polling booth, I half considered writing in the name of Mitt’s father. As a political buff, I’d gone back and read Teddy White’s The Making of the President 1968, referencing George W. Romney’s failed campaign for the presidency. White observed that “the first quality that surfaced, as one met and talked with George Romney over a number of years, was a sincerity so profound that, in conversation, one was almost embarrassed.” George Romney’s campaign collapsed because he was driven by blunt talk and moral precepts. But instead of him, we got snake-oil salesman Richard Nixon in the White House. Young Mitt learned his lesson too well: better a snake oil salesman and president than a failed, principled man for all seasons. In the end, Mitt was neither: just Mr. Etch A Sketch.