Big Government Critiques and Infrastructure Repair MANCHESTER, N.H.-There was a little-noticed moment in Saturday's Republican debate that perfectly illustrated why Mitt Romney is having a hard time persuading ordinary voters that he cares about their concerns. A questioner noted that there was a major highway widening project going on in New Hampshire that needs more money to be completed, and asked him what he would do to invest in these kinds of basic infrastructure needs. "We've got to improve our bridges, improve our roads, improve our rail beds, improve our air transportation system in order to be competitive," Mr. Romney responded, in pure pabulum. But without giving the slightest hint how he would pay for it, he instantly retreated into the far more comfortable territory of government slashing. Government doesn't create jobs, he said, it gets in the way of job creation. In seconds he had deflected the question and began riffing on America's freedom as a beacon for other nations, and President Obama's plan to turn the country into a "European-style welfare state." All of which left the New Hampshire voter wondering, what about that I-93 project you were asked about? What about the potholes on my way to work? What about the streetlights that my town can't afford to keep on? The candidates want to steer the conversation to the abstract idea of excess government, because they cannot acknowledge that government continues to play a concrete role in the daily lives of most citizens. When the Republican candidates pledge to slash federal spending by trillions of dollars, as all have done, they never bother to mention that a huge portion of that reduced spending would have been transferred to states and cities for projects voters actually care about. Jon Huntsman, at least, was honest enough to acknowledge that infrastructure repair actually costs money, and proposed revamping the tax code to eliminate loopholes and deductions and bring in billions of dollars for that purpose. The others, and particularly Mr. Romney, fear that uttering such a basic truth would expose them as big spenders to the turn-off-the-lights crowd. Mr. Romney, in fact, likes to talk about eliminating the subsidy to Amtrak, a familiar Republican target. But if the rail system disappears, as it quickly would without federal aid, the United States would not just fall even farther behind the rest of the developed world on rail transportation, but hundreds of thousands of riders would quickly find themselves on the rutted highways that would be one of the first casualties of his austerity plans.