As Mitt Romney
explained at his no-longer-secret fundraiser, his campaign tries to "use Ann sparingly right now so that people don't get tired of her."
But Ann Romney's latest interview, with Fox13 in Denver, shows that the use of Ann isn't "sparingly" enough. While the campaign obviously thought it was a good idea to use Ann to explain the latest Mittastrophe, turns out, as per usual, she only made things worse.
ANN: Well, you know, I've been on, obviously, on the trail a long time with Mitt, and if you listen to the whole context of what Mitt talks about, he is talking about what's happening right now in America, and how more and more people are falling into poverty, more in particular women are falling into poverty, and so there is a concern on his part, which is why he's running is that he wants to make sure to bring better economic opportunities for everyone. And, you know, I know the guy, I know him really well, I know he cares, and that's why we're running. So it's unfortunate when something gets misinterpreted like this or gets taken out of context, 'cause if you really do listen to everything that he does say, he's talking about what we're facing in America right now. [...]
FOX31: So he wasn't expressing any disdain for people who are poor or who are on entitlement programs at this point?
ANN: Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not. There's—totally not so.
Leaving aside the Palinesque word salad of meaningless talking points and run-on sentences, when you have to clarify that the candidate does not, in fact, disdain the poor, you're losing. Badly. Very, very, very badly.
And when you have to invoke that beloved Republican defense—out of context! out of context!—you're just embarrassing yourself. Especially when the whole video—minus two minutes much later in the speech that apparently would put Mitt's disdain in a completely different context—has been released. And viewed. And made the whole country sick.
Ann's other job, as Mitt's official chief adviser on lady things, is to close the gender gap by saying "women" a lot, boasting about how she talks to women a lot, and insisting—despite all polling evidence to the contrary—that what women voters really care about are Mitt Romney's talking points.
And she's really bad at that too:
FOX31: What would you say to those women out there who are still on the fence and are wanting some more than just the economic argument?
ANN: Well, you know, I think speaking from a perspective from a wife and a mother and from the things that I know that I care about, I want to know what motivates the guy, the person that I would be voting for, and I would say that what motivates Mitt is that he cares. That this is a guy that is, doesn't, obviously need to do this for a job. I mean, he honestly believes that he can help many Americans by getting in there and having the experience that he's had and the ability to understand the economy, to bring more certainty to more Americans, especially to women.
Ann then proceeds to mention "deficits," "debts," and that "this is a really crucial time that we have to start taking some very serious look at some of the things that we've got to do to fix this economy."
In other words, women who want more than just the economic argument are going to get ... the economic argument. Oh, plus an earful of what Ann cares about.
Gosh. Maybe that's why the latest NBC/WSJ poll shows that on "dealing with issues of concern to women," 54 percent favor President Obama, while just 26 percent favor Romney.
But hey, Ann, you just keep telling the women voters what you want them to care about and insisting that Mitt really does want to help Americans. Not the mooching 47 percent of Americans, of course: seniors, the disabled, the very poor, the troops fighting in Afghanistan. Not to mention the gays, lesbians, African Americans and Latinos.
But whoever is left over? Mitt really wants to help them. All both of them.
(Full transcript below the fold.)
FOX31: Mrs. Romney, thank you for joining us and taking some time. I know you're doing a lot of these interviews around the country. They make a lot about spouses, candidates' spouses, wives, and whether or not they like the actual grind of the campaign, doing satellite interviews, going to events. Are you having fun at this point?
ANN: I am. I know we were joking around before the interview started, so yes, I'm having fun.
FOX31: I know there are good days on the campaign trail and tough days on the campaign trail. I know the last news cycle, the last 24 hours, has been tough. All the news focused mostly on this video of Mitt's comments at that fundraiser. What do you want to say to Americans about those comments?
ANN: Well, you know, I've been on, obviously, on the trail a long time with Mitt, and if you listen to the whole context of what Mitt talks about, he is talking about what's happening right now in America, and how more and more people are falling into poverty, more in particular women are falling into poverty, and so there is a concern on his part, which is why he's running is that he wants to make sure to bring better economic opportunities for everyone. And, you know, I know the guy, I know him really well, I know he cares, and that's why we're running. So it's unfortunate when something gets misinterpreted like this or gets taken out of context, 'cause if you really do listen to everything that he does say, he's talking about what we're facing in America right now. We're facing some really difficult situations, and if we don't take corrective measures soon, that more and more people will become dependent on government, and that is not what he wants. He wants to have more economic opportunity for people, he wants to have better jobs for people, he does not want to have more people be more dependent on government.
FOX31: So he wasn't expressing any disdain for people who are poor or who are on entitlement programs at this point?
ANN: Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not. There's—totally not so.
FOX31: You know all about the importance of the of the women's vote across the country and obviously in swing states like Colorado. When we go to "Women for Mitt" events and we hear you speak, you talk a lot about the economic argument, that women are just not doing well under the Obama economy. Talk about that and the new ad that's out today, obviously focused on—Dear Daughter, the ad is called. What's the message for women voters?
FOX31: Well, you know, the truth of the matter is that this economy has been tough on many, many Americans, but unfortunately, it has hit women harder, more women are falling into poverty, more women have become unemployed in the last four years than men. And so for what I am seeing when I'm out there is that I see a lot of women coming to our events, and they're all coming to me—I have a lot of time to talk to some of these women, and they are coming with—hoping that Gov. Romney will have something that will give them some answers to make sure that they know that they will have more job security.
There are a lot of frightened people out there. Even ones that have a job are frightened. And they are looking for certainty, and they are looking for someone to say, "I know. I have some answers for you." And the things I know is that Mitt has had, as people know, he's been successful in business, but what he learned from doing that success are the key things that he understands the economy, he understands job creation, he understands what's missing in this economy right now, he understands it's been a jobless recovery and he, I can't wait either, for him to get the keys to that engine, that economic engine to get things going again in this nation so that people will have more certainty and make sure that they can have a brighter future. You know, there's so many Americans that are frightened right now.
FOX31: Right now in Colorado and nationally the polls do show that President Obama seems to have some advantage with women voters. Here in Colorado, it's anywhere from four points to eight or ten points. What would you say to those women out there who are still on the fence and are wanting some more than just the economic argument?
ANN: Well, you know, I think speaking from a perspective from a wife and a mother and from the things that I know that I care about, I want to know what motivates the guy, the person that I would be voting for, and I would say that what motivates Mitt is that he cares. That this is a guy that is, doesn't, obviously need to do this for a job. I mean, he honestly believes that he can help many Americans by getting in there and having the experience that he's had and the ability to understand the economy, to bring more certainty to more Americans, especially to women.
I think, the other thing I hear from women is that if they are mothers, they're worried about their children because this is the first time in American history that we are saying to our children that they are not going to be better off than we are, that this is the first time that we'll have a generation that we worry about will not be doing better. Because we understand and know and appreciate that these trillion-dollar deficits that we're operating under that our children are going to have to start paying those debts back, and it's not going to be us, but it's going to be our kids. And you know, we care about those things and we have to be serious about this, we have to understand that this is going to be—this is a really crucial time that we have to start taking some very serious look at some of the things that we've got to do to fix this economy and get things turned around again.
FOX31: Mrs. Romney, I know your time is short, so I'll get you out of here on this last question. Is there one thing, or maybe a couple of things, that you think is really important that Americans know about your husband that maybe right now they still don't know?
ANN: You know, I loved, and I think a lot of people didn't see this, um, you know, at our convention, we had so many people that came from our earlier life that talked about how Mitt had helped them and how he'd been there for them and how he'd, you know, what a generous guy he'd been in caring for them at a personal level. And so the one story I'd love people to know is that there was this fireman named Ted Oparowsk. Ted and Pat Oparowsky had a son, David. Mitt was visiting with them and was friendly with them. Then their boy got diagnosed with lukemia and actually was dying and how the story of the parents, all these years later—years later, I think about 30 years later—talked about what it meant for them to have Mitt coming to the bedside of their dying boy, to be there for them, and to have that kind of relationship with them where he, Mitt, was the kind of person that cares, and that he was looking out for people when there were no cameras and no reporters, and this is how he functioned and how he operated with his life.
FOX31: Yeah, I was in the hall for that, and it was a powerful story. I have to ask at this point, do you wish maybe you'd put that person in primetime instead of Clint Eastwood? Do you think that, at the end of the day, would have really helped? I mean, I know Clint was funny and made it work. He certainly got a lot of attention. But those stories, they really did seem to help humanize your husband in a way that some other speakers didn't.
ANN: You know, for me, I always like the personal stories better, and you know, I just like that and enjoy that, and there were a lot of really wonderful personal stories that came out in the convention.
FOX31: Yeah, especially on that last night, right before Mitt took the stage. Mrs. Romney, thank you very much for taking the time with us. We appreciate it, and we hope to see you in Colorado here very soon.
ANN: Thank you.
FOX31: Thank you.