In all the broohaha over the leaked tapes, one of the prevailing thoughts seems to be that Romney has been caught saying in private what he wasn't willing to say publicly. But this isn't strictly true. Mitt has been perfectly willing to say some of the exact same things publicly. Back in the midst of the Republican primary, as documented by this article dated 2/1/2012 that just happened to be the first google hit I got, Romney said this:
“I’m in this race because I care about Americans,” Romney told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien this morning after his resounding victory in Florida on Tuesday. “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.”
“I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling and I’ll continue to take that message across the nation.”
I'm sure most people here remember that episode. Though at times it seems that the news cycle only lasts a week or so before it moves onto the next shiny object, and Romney has certainly been capable of producing plenty of them. Perhaps it is news that Romney in the 3 months from february to may Romney went from throwing 10% of the country under the bus to throwing 47% of the country under the bus, but really that is just an incremental change. This is what Romney has always believed and he has been all too willing to say it both publicly and privately to whoever is willing to listen.
I suppose at the time of this statement, Romney was competing against his fellow crazies, and it was partially drowned out by all the craziness around him. At the time the nomination was still at least partially in doubt and perhaps it wasn't seen as sporting to pile on and/or the only people who could give traction to these kind of stories were his opponents Santorum/Gingrich. And of course what are they going to say when the Republican base seemingly agrees with Romney. But he was saying it, and I guess it was big enough news that at least I remembered it.