The interesting thing about Mitt Romney is that he really wants to be president. But what’s not clear to me is why he wants to be president — and, actually, it might not be clear to him either.

Being president means being important and it seems like a logical thing to do if you’re born into a successful, powerful family and then went on to be successful and powerful yourself.

But here’s the thing: Why would you want to be president of a country when you hold almost half of the citizenry in utter contempt?

I’m not being flippant here; this is something I desperately want someone to ask Romney. Let’s imagine that I was being interviewed for a teaching job — as I have been once or twice in the past — and someone asked me my teaching philosophy. What do you suppose would happen if my response was that I simply write off 47% of my class at the beginning of each semester because they’re stupid and lazy?

I wouldn’t get the job.

And rightly not.

Because the students in my class — all of them — are my responsibility. I want to be a teacher because I want to educate the students. Not 53% of them, all of them. I start each semester full of excitement because each class is a blank slate, a totally new opportunity to work with a room full of young people. I don’t imagine that they’re all potential Rhodes Scholars, but I’m hopeful that — as a result of doing my job — they’ll all learn something they didn’t know before or come away with a new appreciate for something we’ve read.

So, honestly, why does Mitt Romney want to be president?

Incidentally, if you want to learn more about Romney’s 47% comments, here’s more from Mother Jones: “Read Josh Barro’s piece here. Inspiration here.”