Albert Einstein once said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them”, and I fully agree with this theory. Having been in a creative field for most of my life I’ve developed long term relationships with many liberal minded friends. This can cause grief and torment during a Presidential election but I do my best to help them understand why I believe the things that I do. This year’s election is an altogether different story because more and more often I find myself running to the defense of my candidate when speaking with conservatives. Though his wealth has never been an issue for me it seems many Americans are having a hard time putting a human face on Mitt Romney because he is so incredibly rich. We have had successful, wealthy Presidents in the past. Truth be told Barack Obama is quite wealthy himself as are Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. But the far left has tried everything under the sun to paint a face of greed and bias on “conservative” millionaires; though they appear to have no issue with the Hollywood elite and other “liberal” yet wealthy individuals. So for just a moment I’m asking you to forget about Mitt Romney’s 200-250 million dollar worth and focus on his problem solving skills because friends, we have problems and we need to change our way of thinking.

In July 1996 the 14 year old daughter of Robert Gay, a partner at Bain Capital, disappeared. Three days after she went missing her distraught father had no leads and no idea where to turn. Mitt Romney closed down the entire firm and asked all partners and employees of Bain Capital to fly to New York and help find Gay’s daughter. He set up a command center at the LaGuardia Marriott, established a toll free number for tips, and hired a private detective firm to assist with the search. Then Romney went through his rolodex and called everyone that Bain Capital did business with in New York and asked them to help find his friend’s missing daughter. Romney’s accountants at Price Waterhouse Cooper put up posters on street poles while cashiers at the pharmacy owned by Bain Capital put fliers in the bag of every shopper. But he refused to stop there. Romney and the other Bain employees hit the streets and scoured every part of New York talking to anyone they could find; prostitutes, drug addicts, anyone. The Bain Capital hunt for a partner’s missing daughter made the evening news which featured photos of the girl. As a result of the search effort and the news coverage a teenage boy called the toll free number and asked if there was a reward then hung up abruptly. The NYPD traced the call to a home in New Jersey where they found her in the basement, shivering and experiencing withdrawal symptoms from a massive ecstasy dose. Doctors told the father that the girl might not have survived another day. When asked by a reporter about what his friend Mitt Romney did the father said “It was the most amazing thing, and I’ll never forget this to the day I die.”

When Bain & Company was in danger of bankruptcy, years after Romney had left, his friend Bill Bain asked him to come back as CEO and rescue the firm. Romney left Bain Capital to work at Bain & Company for an annual salary of $1. In 2002 when he was asked to rescue the Salt Lake City Olympics he accepted no salary for 3 years and refused an expense account. As Governor of the rapidly declining state of Massachusetts Mitt Romney again took no salary.

So, here is my epiphany: Mitt Romney simply cannot help himself. He sees a problem and his mind immediately begins working to solve it. This may sometimes be consciously and perhaps sometimes not-so-consciously. He doesn’t do it for self-aggrandizement or for personal gain. He solves problems because that is how his brain is wired. Mitt Romney is a natural born problem solver.

I don’t agree with all his policies. But let’s be real, there isn’t a candidate in the world who I would agree with on every single policy. And that candidate doesn’t exist for you either. So, you may ask, what am I saying? I’m saying that some things matter more than others. I’m telling you that this man is a business man. He knows how to run a business. He knows how to manage money and people. Isn’t it time that we sent one of our best and brightest, self made, entrepreneurs to Washington instead of someone who has spent their life as a political puppet? Our problems, like those that Albert Einstein faced in his time, call for a new level of thought.