CEO's Can't Govern?

It has been heartening to watch Rick Santorum's efforts in Iowa pay off; I've long been puzzled as to why he's been repeatedly passed over as the GOP "flavor of the month: -- but hey, he's peaking at just the right time.

Just when everything's going right for him, why, oh why, would he say that "leadership doesn't come from running a company"? Or that "in government, you've got to work with people, not order people"?

Look, it's totally legitimate for him to take shots at Romney, and what a coup it would be if Santorum were actually to take Iowa. But his remarks show a startling ignorance of what it means to be a leader in the private sector (or else, like Gingrich, Romney simply got under his skin). Successful CEO's manifest plenty of leadership skills, and to be successful at running any large enterprise, "work[ing] with people" not "order[ing] people" is what makes for a good CEO.

What's more, in case anyone has noticed, the President -- who is commander-in-chief and the much-respected head of an enormous bureaucracy -- has the opportunity (and sometimes the need) to do a fair amount of "ordering."

One would expect this kind of attack from a lefty, but from Santorum? He's got a future ahead of him (given his lack of money and organization, probably not as the GOP nominee, but how gratifying would it be to see him at HHS or something?); let's hope he doesn't do himself in with boneheaded stuff like this.