Mitt Romney is just so utterly clueless:
Is this your wife? Do you mind if I put my arm around her like that?
Notice anything missing from that moment? Like, I don't know, Romney asking the wife's permission to put his arm around her?
In the scheme of things, this is a tiny moment, one that will no doubt be soon forgotten as the list of Romney's more notable gaffes, flip-flops, awkward moments pretending waitresses are trying to grope him, and general asshattery grows. But it is worth noting because it illustrates the kind of last-century mentality in which you don't need a woman's permission to touch her—you need her husband's permission to touch his property. Too bad her father wasn't around so Mitt could get his permission too.
It seems, from this very brief video, that the wife in question is only too happy to play the role of Romney prop. Who knows? Maybe having his arm around her while he ignores her and speaks only to her husband is the highlight of her day.
But that's not really the point. The point is that it's 2011, and here's a guy who is running for president, who obviously thinks it's perfectly fine to touch a woman as long as her husband gives the okay first.