This is devastating. It may be one of the final straws the eventually breaks the dependent, mooching, Marxist Lenonist's camel's back (it was a pre-existing condition!!!111!!!), but this is further proof that the campaign is in complete melt-down. And it comes at a disastrous time. The presidency is lost. Now these things are going to kill down ticket. No coincidence it's the beginning part of the week. That's what happens when you piss off the media and blatantly disregard pesky "facts": they cream you whenever possible.
There is no comparison to the Obama guns/religion quote. Yes, the circumstances are similar, but Romney's words are so much more inflammatory than Obama's.
Pretty different though. Obama - "People like to cling to their guns and their religion." Patronizing to be sure, but he's not saying they are worse people. Romney on the other hand trashes the 47%. Rips them a new one. Here's what somebody wrote elsewhere - I hope that is right. It's possible. I'll back off my earlier comments on about Mitt until we know further about the context.
Which goes to show that the media isn't so much biased as either side would portray, only biased towards driving ratings, page clicks, etc
David Corn (published the article and has the video) was just on MSNBC, and said that it was not out of context in any way. Also, more videos on their way.
That undecideds care more about the economy than political mudslinging and the media's daily gaffe watch obsession? Of course.
from the same broadcast.....It was mentioned that Mitt Romney is being supported by 75% (!!!!) of all outside group moneys..you know of the untraceable, you do not have to reveal who you are, and hey you can spend infinite amounts of $$$ type..... plus a Tea Party group in Ohio is going to challenge the elegibility of 730, 000 voters in Ohio...wonder on what grounds..The fraud that has not been proven anywhere else in the nation? . So no, it is not ALL bad news for Mittens....and overconfidence in politics (just like in soccer) does worry me a bit....
The clip I saw was a continuous Romney response to a question like "How do we get people to take more responsibility for themselves?" blah, blah and Romney gives the stock, modern Republican answer. Which is mean & venal and is quite normal by winger standards. He felt like he was among friends. Should've made people check cell phones at the door.
Media daily gaffe obsession, political mudslinging...you are either delusional, clueless or just trying to toe the party line...(I suspect you are in the last camp). Your candidate is in deep trouble and he is cooked. PS. He is having a press "availability" tonight.... Panic move.
The difference between this and the "guns/religion" comment is that Obama was saying he was on the side of those people but they were being manipulated. It was pretty dismissive, but Obama wasn't saying that when he became president he wouldn't care about them. It was the reverse. Here's the potential problem, as I see it. That 47% factoid is a big part of the conservative "bumper sticker" arsenal. But it's a hothouse flower, it'll wilt if exposed to the light. Mostly because a hell of alot of that 47% are people like my (retired) parents. The GOP version of class warfare works, somewhat, when it's 53-47. But a hell of alot of that 47% doesn't see themselves that way. I don't think it's LIKELY that'll happen, because it's a fairly sophisticated argument for that particular audience. The payoff for Team Obama will be if they can come up with a solid, but short, narrative that ties together Romney's comment with Ryan's Medicare plan and privatization of Social Security. Romney can't lose any elderly voters and compete. EDIT: And oh yeah, this brings back the Harry Reid charge. Um, Mitt, can you prove that YOU aren't one of the moochers?
yep apparently 65+ people is the only reliably pro-Romney block left in this election according to reports i checked earlier today...So losing any advantage on that block would likely damage his prospects, tremendously
I don't have a candidate or a party line to toe. I'll be well-off no matter who is elected. But it's obvious that the media is obsessed with gaffes. In the heat of the Libya crisis in which we had dead Americans, everyone was talking about Romney. Almost had to laugh. The media loves this stuff. Obviously, from your perspective, you better hope you're right that Romney is in trouble. In fact, many on this board have been saying that since March. "It's over", such and such candidate "has no chance", etc. If it was over then, then surely nothing has changed. Claiming that the election "is over" is an effective non-statement in the context of this board.
By the way, Re: Mitt's sudden desire to be all Latino-y..... As a Mexican-American let just say: "Oh No, that's OK.... We're good...."
1. It wasn't really "campaign hyperbole" was it? It was more what he was selling/promising to his backers/clients. 2. My brother-out-law listens to Rush religiously. He surely voted for McCain and was expecting to vote for Romney. Now Romney is on tape talking to people who have a life he cannot even dream of, telling them that his two sisters, almost everyone he knows and the people he spends his professional life (which pretty much is his life) trying to help are parasites and losers-- and he also. He's kind of a political innocent in the 19th century sense of innocent, so maybe he'll still vote Romney-- but there have to be literally millions like him, and some of them are going to regard blood as more important than rhetoric when the position is laid out that baldly.
If you are going to be well off, more power to you, could not care less though. You are trying to reduce this matter to a "media loves this stuff" story when it is much more than that. It is a devastating story by all account. I am not hoping Romney is in trouble, It is a fact that he is in trouble. You sound as desperate as him, BTW.
Indeed. Romney was speaking as if there is an identity between Obama's "47%" in the polls and the "47%" who don't pay any federal income taxes. But that identity is false. Truth is, Romney's getting a whole lot of his vote from older voters who don't pay any federal income tax. Plus, the reason so many poor don't pay any federal income tax is because the GOP gave them all sorts of tax breaks, usually to make even bigger tax breaks for the wealthy more politically palatable. Now the GOP is turning around and calling all those people "parasitic moochers" - in the Randian parlance - who took advantage of the tax breaks they themselves gave them! Classy. And not only that: it's obvious he and everyone in that room has total contempt for those people. That's just poisonous. Uh, huh ...
Here's the thing -- As a flaming liberal, I actually somewhat agree with Obama's quote. I think some people do cling to their guns and religion and antipathy to people who aren't like them. I think that's been very apparent these past four years. And I think Obama believed it. But while he was speaking condescendingly, he was not saying 'everyone who does not agree with me falls into this category.' He was talking about the vocal minority that was spewing such vitriol to his candidacy. Romney on the other hand, was saying 'everyone who doesn't agree with my (secret) policies is a lazy leeching loser' -- but I don't think even he believes what he said. Even in private, when he's being casual and comfortable, he's still on autopilot. He was saying whatever he needs to say, and will say whatever he needs to say, whenever to whomever, to get elected. I don't think he really believes half the nation doesn't pay taxes, but he's willing to throw that red meat (or for that crowd I guess he was happy to sear the filet, then delicately drip the glaze). I know every politician in the history of time has done that. But some simply do it much, much more often and much, much more poorly. And he is at the top of both lists.
What do you mean in the middle of the Libya crisis. It was over. There was no crisis ongoing. And the media should be obsessed with unguarded moments. The pols are feeding us their focus group lines, as Romney stated, and what we want to know is what they really think. These are not actually gaffes. When I say something behind your back and it gets out, that is not a gaffe. That is just what I say behind your back. Obama saying people vote against their economic interest because they cling to their guns and religion was the truth to him. Romney saying half the country are moochers and he earned the full financial backing of a CEO and governor from birth is his opinion. It's good to know.
Labeling someone 'desperate' sounds pretty desperate. In fact, your rushing to say that the election is over also sounds pretty desperate. The president got a bounce after the convention, and there's evidence it's fading rather rapidly. We're still seeing tight races in the swing states, with a slight advantage to the president. Your hope obviously is that this "gaffe" moves the needle more towards your candidate. But with the electorate so sharply divided this cycle, it likely won't do too much. In all likelihood, the election will hinge on the debates and how the undecided voters feel about the economy on election day.
Libya, Tunisia, Afghanistan, etc. All ongoing when the Obama campaign came out against Romney. But I didn't say the media shouldn't be obsessed with gaffes in general. I just said they were. And they should, because that's what gets ratings and that's what informs. I did think the obsession over Romney's obsession with a tweet was borderline comedy though. But in general, reporting on these "unguarded moments" is good, and I have no problem with it.
Who can say if it's what Romney really believes? But it certainly fits into the negative depiction of Romney that the Obama campaign has been working to build -- privileged, out-of-touch, arrogant, cold, uncaring, richie rich who only cares about other richies...