There's No Joy in Mittville
Romney's comments on half the country being victims and on the dole cannot help his campaign chances.
There's No Joy in Mittville
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist
There can be no joy in Mittville.
The GOP presidential candidate with a habit of living up to the caricature the Obama campaign pushes of an aloof plutocratic politician has yet again set himself squarely in the frame of that very picture.
Busted by a hidden camera at a Florida fundraiser last May (the video of which was released Monday), Romney was caught telling wealthy donors that, among other things, nearly half the country is made up of irresponsible takers on the government dole, adding, “My job is not to worry about those people.”
Late Monday, Romney held a news conference in which he did not back away from his assertions. He said only that his comments were “not elegantly stated.”
A fair statement.
But the problem here is two-fold: his own words highlight his image as an out-of-touch multi-millionaire with a car elevator who won’t release his tax returns; and they come just as voters are beginning to pay serious attention to the race.
His words will be repeated. “Those people” will be defined as unemployed or impaired military veterans, seniors on Social Security, students getting federal loan assistance, those with disabilities, etc.
All will be cast as viewed by Romney as people who cannot be convinced to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The Obama campaign, of course, pounced: it issued a fund-raising appeal saying that someone who “demonstrates such disgust and disdain for half of our fellow Americans” doesn’t deserve to be president.
The episode is a sort of replay of Obama’s 2008 primary campaign comments to a group of donors in California that people in rural Pennsylvania are bitter and “cling" to their guns and religion.
That comment dogs him to this day. GOP veep candidate Paul Ryan uses it in stump speeches saying that as a Catholic hunter he’s proud to cling to his guns and his faith.
The difference is that Obama’s gaffe came in a primary and Romney’s comes much closer to the general election.
The question is can Mitt weather his misstep (which is certain to be fodder for cartoonists, comics and editorials in the same way Obama’s was) and refocus voters’ attention away from the caricature he’s helping to solidify.
After mucking up reaction to the assault on the U.S. embassy in Libya just last week and now facing down comments about dependent Americans, Romney’s batting with two strikes. And there can’t be much joy in Mittville.
LOL!!! You Libs are brain dead HATERS!! Barry said the same type of things regarding "guns and God"...What is this, part of "Forward" because you CAN'T look back at that record!!!
p.s. BARRY WAS NEVER HELD TO THE CARPET FOR HIS COMMENTS, WHY????...MORE TREASONOUS LIB MEDIA..... LOL!!!— sarah89- Sarah, if you HAD a brain, you'd probably eat it. And you're still sounding very frustrated. Did you buy that new hat for yourself I told you to get? I'm sure you'd feel much better if you did. — CommonSense in Philly
- Guys stop! Show some compassion towards Sarah.
Her own leader Santorum called her "not smart". It's not her fault that she was born this way. She can be only held responsible for not educating herself.— Seed 
Comment removed.- You want to talk treasonous, how about the Norquist pledge the GOP congress and senate members sighed on taxes they took a pledge to serve the people all the people not just a few. They would let the US rot on a vine to please a scummy little twert like Norquist, this Norquist also said that they want a president to just sign whatever they put in front of him, if the Teanuts are so patriotic they should be appalled by his words but you don't hear a peep from them. I agree that God and guns comment was dumb, but Mitts keeps saying dumber comments, and everybody who disagree's with the right is not a flaming liberal that you always spew out of your mouth alot of us dissagree with some policy's of the right, you can't handle dissagreement. — angrywhtguy
- You want to talk treasonous, how about the Norquist pledge the GOP congress and senate members sighed on taxes they took a pledge to serve the people all the people not just a few. They would let the US rot on a vine to please a scummy little twert like Norquist, this Norquist also said that they want a president to just sign whatever they put in front of him, if the Teanuts are so patriotic they should be appalled by his words but you don't hear a peep from them. I agree that God and guns comment was dumb, but Mitts keeps saying dumber comments, and everybody who disagree's with the right is not a flaming liberal that you always spew out of your mouth alot of us dissagree with some policy's of the right, you can't handle dissagreement. — angrywhtguy
- u mad sarah?
— daxtremesolja - Leftists are having a field day - in the meantime the world is falling apart and O is campaigning.
- Comment removed.
- Sharky - You overestimate your messiah's chances.
Scoreboard shows under Obama:
* Over 18% unemployment
* Over $16 Trillion in National Debt enslaving Americans to bankers (with over $5T of that coming from Obama alone).
* Massive unrest internationally due to a weak Foreign Pol.
* First Downgrade of US Debt ever
* Lack of leadership from WH leading to gridlock in Congress.
* Thanks to Democrats and private Central Bank, rich get richer and middle class gets poorer and poorer with endless printing of money!!!— Professor1982 - 1982: are you talking to an empty chair again?
Otherwise your lies need to be fine tuned for live human beings.— Seed - Seedless - If you think these are lies, you need to join us in reality and check the facts.
Typical liberals either ignore the fact or just simply don't understand them.— Professor1982 - What a waste of money Adelson is spending on Romney he should spend it on a better toupe and more clown makeup for his wife. Just boycott like I do any products made by the Koch brothers they should use that money for their employss's. Keep up the great post and I see the Nutty Professor is spewing more of whatever his small mind says. — angrywhtguy
- "Wet sock" as republican candidate. It fits. They nominated brain dead hollywood actor and drunken Texan as well and won.
Only difference, nice guy Democrats are finally growing some balls. No future for wet socks.— Seed
John is the author of the book "On The Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics: Twenty-Five Years of Keystone Reporting" (The History Press, 2012). Reach John at baerj@phillynews.com.
