Fresh off a dominant win in the Florida presidential primary, Mitt Romney managed to unload a clip of .45 ammunition in both feet on national television this morning. In an interview with Soledad O’Brien,
This morning the members of Red State had their collective heads dunked in a bucket of iced cold water, otherwise known as Mitt Romney. What they fear is that Romney's remarks on CNN that he's "not concerned about the very poor" will make Republicans seem like they're somehow callous, cold-hearted moneygrubbers who don't give a fuck about the poor. Imagine that.
And now that their cover is blown they're scrambling:
The fact he didn’t mean precisely that is immaterial; you simply can’t say that in a political campaign, particularly when you’re (a) already filthy rich (and have never spent a day of your life in the middle class, let alone as a ‘poor’ individual), and (b) running for the top position in a party that is already portrayed by media and opposition as being unconcerned with any Americans outside of the super rich. Again, the fact that (b) is entirely inaccurate is immaterial; just as every possible Rick Perry gaffe contributed to the narrative that he was incoherent, inarticulate, and mentally challenged, every statement by Mitt Romney that could possibly be construed as being out of touch with (and unsupportive of) “the 99%” adds to the narrative that the rich, white, out-of-touch GOP is preparing to nominate a rich, white, out-of-touch automaton to lead its party and the country.
I love that he has to say "The fact he didn’t mean precisely that is immaterial". Yeah, sure he didn't mean it, buddy. Even a commenter on the story doesn't buy that:
Problem with it is, these comments are just Romney being genuinely honest…and that speaks volumes about the kind of mindset he truly has...
Join me after the jump for more Red State intrigue as lost in the woods Republicans create the narrative that will lead to an Obama victory, as well as a possible retaking of the House. Seriously? They seem to believe it. Here's a teaser:
Mitt Romney’s demeaning words not only ended up shooting himself in the foot the day after his huge victory in Florida, it also ricocheted right through the heart of the Republican Party
One of the first commenters on the story suggests Mitt use common dodge used throughout the McCain campaign:
Romney needs to get ahead of this ASAP
It is clearly a gaffe. It is one of those things everyone has experience sometime in their life where they try to say something, but the instant it leaves their month they realize it sounds terrible. As such Romney needs to apologize for the words in the statement and just admit that his mouth got ahead of his brain.
Hmmm... perhaps, but what about all those other gaffes?
He's not going to be able to "get ahead of it"
…because what it does is simply reinforce the stereotype that is already there. There is no way for Mitt Romney to shake the “uncaring rich guy” label. It’s been there all the time and this just cemented it. He could give away every dollar he has and he’d still be Slick Uncle Moneybags.
Time to start strategizing for 2016. This guy is burnt toast already.
What were those gaffes again?
The devastating part about the quote is that it plays into the larger narrative being built about Romney, one that I have to say I largely agree with.
I don’t care about the very poor.
360K isn’t a lot of money
I like to fire people
Corporations are people
I think you might have missed a few
Let's not forget
I’m also unemployed haha.
How about a $10K bet?
The only tax I want to completely repeal is the investment income tax.
How did this Daily Kos comment find it's way over there?
Romney has no ability to understand what life is like for anyone but the rich and can’t be trusted to do anything that helps the middle class. He obviously has no beliefs other than “Greed is good”. And “Greed is good” is not the same thing as saying “capitalism is good”.
I want to live in a democracy, not a plutocracy.
What. Thee. Fuck? Wow... last time I heard someone say something like that I was at an Occupy protest two weeks ago. Maybe they should start their own DFH group over there.
A summery of the overall sentiment toward the Mittster:
Romney has led a privileged
life. He is simply out of touch. I harbor the man no personal ill will.
However, to the extent the President of the United States is supposed to represent in some form the people of the country, this guy is an epic fail.
I couldn't agree more.
UPDATE:
I forgot to include this comment that amazingly (correctly) calls Romney out for waging Class Warfare against the poor:
Romney is now playing class warfare. Dividing up americans into rich and poor. Simply…he cant win because conservatives care about the poor too! Put a fork in him..he’s done
Is this the big Republican fracture we've all been waiting for?
UPDATE 2: Top of the Rec List? Gracias, Kossacks. If you're interested in the Freeper reaction to Romney, check out qannabbos excellent (and excellently titled)"Romney-hating FReepers in a world of butthurt".
Hopefully President Obama and the DNC are taking notes from our Red State friends. Looks like this year class warfare is the new black.
CLASS WARFARE UPDATES:
"All Romney needs now is a top hat and monocle."
"The stupidity of this statement is staggering
First, as noted by everyone in the blogosphere, it makes Romney look like the guy lighting $100 bills on fire in front of starving Ethiopians — terrible imaging."
"I’m firmly convinced Romney is a plant by the Democratic party to ensure Obama gets re-elected this fall. These tin-earred gaffes keep playing right into the 1% narrative that the DNC-run Liberal Media will be pushing heavily during the general election.
This is too politically stupid to have been an accident.
....
That said, you don’t get on national TV one day after your big primary win and say you don’t care about the poor. That is simply political malpractice of the highest magnitude.
It’s time to ditch Romney before it’s too late. This guy will set the GOP back 50 years, or more."