Did Mitt Romney just blow the election?
Comments caught on video reveal that the GOP candidate thinks half of Americans are losers. This is an utter disaster for his campaign.
By Josh Barro
You can mark my prediction now: A secret recording from a closed-door Mitt Romney fundraiser, released Monday by David Corn at Mother Jones, has killed Mitt Romney's campaign for president.
On the tape, Romney explains that his electoral strategy involves writing off nearly half the country as unmoveable Obama voters. As Romney explains, 47 percent of Americans "believe that they are victims." He laments: "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
So what's the upshot? "My job is not to worry about those people," he says. He also notes, describing President Obama's base, "These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax."
This is an utter disaster for Romney.
Romney already has trouble relating to the public and convincing people he cares about them. Now, he's been caught on video saying that nearly half the country consists of hopeless losers.
Romney has been vigorously denying President Obama's claims that his tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class. Now, he's been caught on video suggesting that low- and middle-income Americans are undertaxed.
That one is especially problematic, given the speculation about what's on his unreleased pre-2010 tax returns.
Corn tells us there are more embarrassing moments on segments of the video he hasn't released yet. Romney jokes that he'd be more likely to win the election if he were Hispanic. He makes some awkward comments about whether he was born with a "silver spoon" in his mouth.
But those are survivable. The really disastrous thing is the clip about "victims," and the combination of contempt and pity that Romney shows for anyone who isn't going to vote for him.
Romney is the most opaque presidential nominee since Nixon, and people have been reduced to guessing what his true feelings are. This video provides an answer: He feels that you're a loser. It's not an answer that wins elections.
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Why is anybody surprised by this? This is a man who physically assaulted a vulnerable student with the help of his friends, and then conveniently forgot about the whole thing when confronted about it. Don't start with the second guessing because the story has been coraborated by many sources who were there. This is the bully mentality of dismissing the needs and humanity of anyone who does not agree with you, look like you, or act like you. In the world view of people like Mr. Romney either you're one of the in crowd or you are a hopeless loser unworthy of human rights or dignity.
Some people outgrow this type of linear thinking as they mature, but Mr. Romney has never had to mature since he's never really had to live in the real world of day to day average people. In the view of Tea Party people the only people who deserve rights or dignity are the rich, talented, and beautiful. If you do not fit into this narrow category, as about 99% of the population doesn't, you are of no importance to them, and they would rather you just go away. You are a burden. This is not Christianity, it is psychopathy.
Beware wolves in sheep's clothing...They seek the ruin of souls.
Romney is not only a blabber mouthed moron (MORMON), he is an anchor baby for a born Mexican. His daddy tried run for President while being a natural born Mexican citizen. Ask him if he knows who his great grandmother was. His great grand pappy had twelve wives! His grand parents, possibly US citizens left this country to escape abiding by the laws to live in sin in Mexico.
Look that up while you are harping his famous credentials.
Those of you complaining about the "lazy" 47% really need to take a look at who those people are. A married couple with 3 young children earning $50,000 of wages would pay no income tax in 2011 due to the child tax credit. Seniors whose only income is social security pay no income taxes. People who are starting small businesses without a lot of income in their start up years or those working low paying jobs because that's all they can get right now may not pay income taxes if they have children and are eligible for the earned income credit. Now, does that 47% include slackers? Most definitely, but I would venture a guess that the actual number of slackers is no where near the 47%. In fact, I would be interested if anyone actually had a source as to the estimated number of slackers. Be careful about making sweeping generalizations about statistics. Not everyone who is not paying income taxes is sitting around eating junk food, watching tv and waiting for their government check.
My message to that 47% that have been sooo offended and feel such outrage. Stay calm everything is fine, you will be happy soon, you get to take a shower with all of your friends and it will be very nice. How many despots have come to power in the history of the world by promising to take from the rich and give to the poor? And how many millions of lives were lost removing them?
I'm definitely a 47%-er! I'm also a 26 year old graduate student working my way through a doctoral program. In addition to being a full time graduate student, I work and pay taxes and still struggle to make ends meet. In fact, I'm considering signing up for medical assistance because I can't afford health insurance. Am I lazy? Entitled? Not working hard enough? Are the hours you spend twiddling your thumbs at a desk and playing angry birds REALLY worth more money than the hours I spend studying and working my butt off to pay my rent?
Can we please be clear about a few things? First, paying no income tax doesn't mean you are lazy, jobless, or looking for a handout - it means that the job you DO have pays so little that you get most of that income tax back in your tax return. That would include the people who do your dry cleaning, clean your office after you leave, take care of your kids at day care, prepare your food at restaurants, landscape your yard, walk your dog, cut your hair, and so many others. But if they don't make very much money, they must be lazy and clearly deserve whatever financial hardships they've endured, right? Right. Good to know empathy is so alive and well in the US.
This country relies on people of all different skills and professions, and to insinuate that anyone whose job doesn't pay enough to make ends meet is lazy/looking for a handout/will be the demise of this country is incredibly insulting.
Are there people who work the system? Of course. Are they the majority? No. Are the millions of dollars funding those people equal to the millions of dollars the rich DON'T pay thanks to tax loopholes? Probably. Have you ever even MET anyone who has had to sign up for government assistance? Would you trade places with them, since clearly they're living the life? I'm pretty sure most of them aren't high fiving each other for how they've managed to outsmart taxpayers. They probably just wish they weren't poor.
This kind of hatred and blind self righteousness is what will be the demise of this country. Thank God those of us in higher education who will one day be leading this country don't agree with you.
Right now, Republicans are split into 3 groups:
1) Extreme right-wing religious f***-tards who are no different than terrorists and want to institute a Christian Sharia Law in this country. These people will put BIGGER government into your personal lives, restrict rights from individuals, and destroy the country. They are the single greatest threat to America.
2) Libertarian minded Republicans who honestly want less government. These are the Republicans who voted for Ron Paul in the primaries. They want government out of marriage, bedrooms, business, education, growing plants, everything.
3) Fiscal conservative Republicans who are liberal minded on social policies. They are typically called moderate and supported Romney 1.0, not the current iteration. They want a conservative holding the federal purse strings, but do not agree with the big government social agenda that their counterparts push. These are the Republicans who do NOT believe that "rape babies are a gift from god" or that "homosexuals are abominations".
Unless the party is reinvented and comes together in agreement, these 3 groups will further tear it apart and make it increasingly difficult to win an election.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan bring a moral compass approach to the Financial and Emotional Roles Americans face. To entitle Obama with four more years of ego driven approaches would be a major error. Romney may not sound right in campaign words...he may be guessing a little about behaviors and perceptions, but when it comes time to get America moving Forward Again Romney/Ryan have the "right stuff"...just as our original Astronauts did in our challenge to get to the Moon...driven by LBJ, who formed NASA in 1959, was our most productive President in critical legislation, in a time of tough turmoil...Kennedy's Vietnam war, Kennedy's Cuba missile crisis...solved by LBJ in discussions with Dubrynin about abandoning Cold War Missles in Checkaslovikia, bringing the Great Society to America...Voters Rights, Civil Rights, Medicare, update of Social Security, the beginning of a "Colorblind Society," the appointment of a Justice with color, based on merit, He made certain the Peace Core worked, and created the Job Core. Obama has not been anything close to being a President who works within the framework of government...he has been a President by Executive Order, he does not have vision, does not understand an understand a budget, how it is timed to the growth of companies large and small...he did not even submit a Budget when he had control of the full House and Senate. Obama has been a disgrace to America, and he is not a person regarded with affection around the globe!
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