Romney: Barack Obama Voters 'Dependent On Government

[Middle-aged Europe]

Of course they are.

And this sort of response is why I disagree that this will all that adversely affect Romney's campaign.  It's insulting to the people who are voting for Obama, but most of the people who would vote for Romney probably agree with it and say "of course".  It's unsurprising to both sides that he'd hold such a view.

Yes; a gaffe is only damaging (genuinely damaging) if it alters perceptions.

I just read the exact opposite from the electoral-vote.com guy :

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2012/Pres/Maps/Sep18.html#item-1

[afleitch]

Of course they are.

And this sort of response is why I disagree that this will all that adversely affect Romney's campaign.  It's insulting to the people who are voting for Obama, but most of the people who would vote for Romney probably agree with it and say "of course".  It's unsurprising to both sides that he'd hold such a view.

Yes; a gaffe is only damaging (genuinely damaging) if it alters perceptions.

The nuances of the gaffe (ie insulting senior citizens, vets, students etc) are difficult to communicate well. However it could prove useful at the debate. It's the Mexican gaffe that is potentially more damaging.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

"My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

...coming from MITT ROMNEY, son of the wealthy Governor of Michigan.  Good god. 

[Silent Hunter]

He's insulted the Palestinians in this as well.

[ZuWo]

I only heard of Mitt's latest gaffe today. I must say this seems like one of the worst gaffes that he has produced during the entire campaign. His remarks come across as an insult to half of the American population. I know it's not possible but the GOP would be better off if they dropped Romney and threw their support behind one of the remaining third party candidates (why not Gary Johnson).

[pbrower2a]

Mitt Romney has already shown himself as a heartless reactionary several times. That damage has already been done. The only way in which that shapes the Presidential contest is if disclosures of this stuff allow President Obama to win the Carter-Clinton voters that haven't voted for Gore, Kerry, and Obama. This might be good for flipping Missouri, maybe Georgia.

[Politico]

Romney is right, and this returns us to the narrative of what kind of America we want to be: Obama's Big Government of handouts and decline, or a nation of opportunities, free choice and personal responsibility.

Anybody who has ever sent a significant amount of taxes to Washington understands where Romney is coming from (including people who are struggling right now, but not struggling quite enough to get an Obama free parking spot); those who game the system will be outraged for Romney telling a hard truth.

This is a net gain for Romney, even though many people will not openly say they agree with Romney. Plus, the narrative we want is back. Folks, it's not like Romney said Democrats cling to abortions and atheism.

[The Mikado]

Romney is right, and this returns us to the narrative of what kind of America we want to be: Obama's Big Government of handouts and decline, or a nation of opportunities, free choice and personal responsibility.

Anybody who has ever sent a significant amount of taxes to Washington understands where Romney is coming from (including people who are struggling right now, but not struggling quite enough to get an Obama free parking spot); those who game the system will be outraged for Romney telling a hard truth.

It's not like Romney said Democrats cling to abortions and atheism.

It's such a shame seeing Romney resort to class warfare.

[Politico]

He realizes that most of these 47% of people who receive more from the government than they pay in income taxes are seniors who are his base, right? Wait no, he's as far removed from reality as the rest of the crazy fascists in charge of the GOP these days.

Seniors paid into SS/Medicare for years. Romney will ensure the solvency of these programs because we cannot allow seniors to start showing up on the streets. In comparison, Obama's "grand" plan is taking resources from SS/Medicare and using unrealistic forecasts and accounting gimmicks to fund Obamacare, a program Obama knows is going to be more costly than promised otherwise it would have already fully kicked in, in time for the election.

[Politico]

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I find this fascinating because you never hear Democrats talking like this when they're trying to win a campaign. Republicans seem to have a list of places and groups of people in America that they openly bitch about.

What was that Obama said about people clinging to guns and religion in 2008?

The revisionist history on this board is startling.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Meh, just another "guns and religion" moment. Romney is pandering to his base like Obama pandered to his in the Bay Area. He has a point though, just like Obama had a point, but he shouldn't have said it. I expect it will have a small effect depending on how much it is blown up in the media.

[Incipimus iterum]

Meh, just another "guns and religion" moment. Romney is pandering to his base like Obama pandered to his in the Bay Area. He has a point though, just like Obama had a point, but he shouldn't have said it. I expect it will have a small effect depending on how much it is blown up in the media.

i have to kinda admit hes right a little bit

[minionofmidas]

So, this is Romney's very own "clinging to guns and religion" moment?

They shall take the income tax I owe, from my cold, dead hands.

[minionofmidas]

Of course they are.

And this sort of response is why I disagree that this will all that adversely affect Romney's campaign.  It's insulting to the people who are voting for Obama, but most of the people who would vote for Romney probably agree with it and say "of course".  It's unsurprising to both sides that he'd hold such a view.

Yes; a gaffe is only damaging (genuinely damaging) if it alters perceptions.

I just read the exact opposite from the electoral-vote.com guy :

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2012/Pres/Maps/Sep18.html#item-1

Romney does not want to be President for the upper half. That'd be every other post-Truman President bar Johnson (and Nixon, who had no intention whatsoever to be President for anybody but himself.) Rommney feels nothing but cold contempt for 96% of the upper half - these are barely-human creatures comparable to the lower half... things.

[Likely Voter]

The best case scenario for Romney on this is that he has lost yet another weekly news cycle where he again is on the defensive, and he is running out of weeks where he can turn things around.  But this could be a kind of "Macacca" moment for him where it just confirms the worst stereotype and he can never recover.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It'll cost Romney this week's news cycle and about ½ to 1% of the vote in my opinion.  Not especially serious damage — if he were leading the race.  But he's not.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

It's bad because this will further energize Obama's base. If Obama's base is more energized than Romney's come election day, he loses badly. It doesn't have to shift undecideds, insulting Democrats and left-Indies is all that's necessary to get them to come out again.

[opebo]

Only a small effect in terms of the actual insults, however I think it does harm him by making him look like a fool and an incompetent.

[minionofmidas]

Only a small effect in terms of the actual insults

Nice typo. Was that on purpose?

[Marokai Backbeat]

The saddest aspect to this story, IMO, is that it won't actually be as damaging as it should be for reasons already mentioned. Fox has spent the entire day in overdrive furiously downplaying it, and American voters have already demonstrated a million times over they have no problem voting against themselves.

A candidate that has made as many mistakes and stupid statements as Mitt Romney shouldn't be within 10% of Obama.

[Middle-aged Europe]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/romney-apologizes-to-nations-150-million-starving,29603/

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

The saddest aspect to this story, IMO, is that it won't actually be as damaging as it should be for reasons already mentioned. Fox has spent the entire day in overdrive furiously downplaying it, and American voters have already demonstrated a million times over they have no problem voting against themselves.

A candidate that has made as many mistakes and stupid statements as Mitt Romney shouldn't be within 10% of Obama.

Oh Marokai. A story like this is as irrelevant as Obama's "guns and religion" leak in 2008. We know Mittens is an asshole who thinks like my grandfather, that being poor is a choice, that the majority of people feel entitled, etc, etc, just like we knew Obama probably doesn't think much of god and looks down on simple country folk who spend weekends cleaning guns and shooting at tree stumps in their backyard.

This obviously was idiotic to say, but he was speaking to his target audience, probably who think like he and my grandfather, and that's what they wanted to hear. It's politics. It's life.

[Politico]

So, this is Romney's very own "clinging to guns and religion" moment?

They shall take the income tax I owe, from my cold, dead hands.

This is hilarious coming from somebody in Greece, the world capital of tax evasion that has caused relentless stress on markets worldwide.

[7,052,770]

Romney is right

LOL, you've finally convinced me that you're just screwing with us.  The 47% lie was debunked long ago.

[Marokai Backbeat]

The saddest aspect to this story, IMO, is that it won't actually be as damaging as it should be for reasons already mentioned. Fox has spent the entire day in overdrive furiously downplaying it, and American voters have already demonstrated a million times over they have no problem voting against themselves.

A candidate that has made as many mistakes and stupid statements as Mitt Romney shouldn't be within 10% of Obama.

Oh Marokai. A story like this is as irrelevant as Obama's "guns and religion" leak in 2008. We know Mittens is an asshole who thinks like my grandfather, that being poor is a choice, that the majority of people feel entitled, etc, etc, just like we knew Obama probably doesn't think much of god and looks down on simple country folk who spend weekends cleaning guns and shooting at tree stumps in their backyard.

This obviously was idiotic to say, but he was speaking to his target audience, probably who think like he and my grandfather, and that's what they wanted to hear. It's politics. It's life.

Oh I know, both have said stupid things, but Romney's been having a string of embarrassing stunts. The foreign trip, the lackluster convention, the Libya comments, now this leaked video. It's been a new disappointment or mistake every week. I'm just amazed it hasn't had more of an accumulated impact.

I don't think it's completely fair to compare Obama's 'guns and religion' comment to this, though. Aside from being factually accurate, the full quote of Obama's 'guns and religion' comment was about reaching out to those people and making sure we try to convince those people that Democrats could make a difference in their lives despite their cultural worries. Romney's quote straight up said that 47% of the country doesn't care about taking personal responsibility and care for their lives and he can't do anything about it and won't even try. That's a bit worse.