So it appears that the GOP will be choosing Mitt Romney as its candidate. His performance in the process as well as harassment allegations and debate blunders have positioned him as the likely candidate.
However, the GOP nomination process might not be vetting a huge liability of his business background that other candidates are not burdened by. Today the NYT ran a piece detailing the acquisition of Dade International by Bain Capital while Romney was CEO of that investment firm. Some highlights of the acquisition:
- in 1994 a group of investors lead by Bain bought Dade for $450M
- under Bain’s push for profits, Dade proceeded to layoff 1,700 workers in the U.S.
- “April 1999, [Bain] pushed Dade to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to buy half of Bain’s shares in the company”
- Bain collected $242 million, a return eight times its investment.
- Hobbled by its debt to pay off its investors, Dade went bankrupt in 2002
Setting aside judgements of these investment practices, the reality is that stories like this are not going to play well to the wider American public. This reads like the script of Tommy Boy (without the happy ending).
The GOP nomination process is not shedding much light on these chapters of Romney’s history. But Republicans should consider them now, because under the scrutiny of the general election, I think that they will be devastating.
