The Executive Editor of Time Magazine gets paid the big bucks to go on The Chris Matthews Show to say brilliant things like this:

“The economic question is the heart of this whole race, who do you trust to handle the situation? Voters aren’t sure that Obama knows how to fix the economy, but they think he understands their problems. The reverse is true for Romney, they think he probably knows how to fix the economy, but he isn’t really sure that he understands their problems at all. The voters just have to choose, which one do you want to live with.”

There it is, the template that the media has created for this election. 

Let’s say Duffy is right. We can pick the inept, incompetent, old lady down the street to be our president because she smiles and says hi when we walk by and asks us how we’re doing because we think she really cares about us. Or we can pick the brilliant curmudgeon up the street to be our president because he can repair this damaged nation because he knows how, but he doesn’t bother saying hi as we walk by (perhaps because he’s busy fixing things.)

If that’s the choice we have, Mike Duffy, I guess we have to choose between Kelly Rippa and Jack Welch.

Of course, the assessment of Barack Obama being unable to fix the economy is accurate. He cannot, or he would’ve by now. Certainly, we would’ve seen progress, and we have not. He blames everything but himself for the problems. Bush, Republicans, Europe, Arab Spring, Japanese tsunami, or Americans for not listening to him and not understanding his brilliance. The media watches from the sidelines as he blames everything and everybody but himself. Remember, “the Republicans drove the car into the ditch?” Well, it’s been almost four years now with Obama at the wheel and he has taken the car to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and he blames the canyon he helped create. 

Meanwhile, even if you believed Mitt Romney doesn’t know what it’s like to struggle, but he can drive the car out of the canyon, wouldn’t you want him at the wheel?

Of course, Romney is much more caring and understanding than Obama and his slavish media would want us to believe. He sacrificed 2 and a half years of his life to serve others while living in relative poverty in France on an LDS mission. You pay your own way and live on very little money. He chose to do that while he was 19 years old. When Romney talks about Obama looking to Europe for answers to American problems, he knows first hand that this won’t work because he’s lived there, done that.

Romney donated the inheritance his parents gave him to BYU so that George Romney could be honored with a building in his name. This also forced Mitt to make it on his own. 

Romney volunteered years of his life to help and council others while serving as an LDS Bishop and Stake President. You don’t get more “grass roots” than selflessly donating 20, 30, 40, or more hours per week to pitch in to help others with whatever their needs may be. Forget the tens of millions of dollars Mitt and Ann have donated to charity, I guarantee you that was easier than leaving his wife and five boys at home on a cold night in Massachusetts to help somebody dig a car out of the snow or council a couple on marital issues. Then help someone solve another problem the next night, and the next night…..then do that year after year. We have no details of what Obama did while he was a paid Community Organizer, like so many things, that part of his life remains a secret, but having served an LDS mission, and having worked in LDS leadership, I do know what it’s like serving others in that capacity. It changes you forever. That’s change for the better. 

Media, don’t tell me Mitt Romney can’t relate to real issues just because you have your template of what “rich” people are like. Do your job. Find out who Mitt Romney is. Find out what he has done and the lives he has changed with his unselfish service. You sent 5,ooo reporters to Wasilla, Alaska to “investigate” Sarah Palin 4 years ago, certainly you can send half that many to find the real human interest stories of people who have been recipients of Romney’s hands-on service.  

You will if you want to.

Follow Ron Futrell on Twitter @RonFutrell