Mitt Romney on CNN, February 1, 2012. Yikes. First of all, the safety net has tons of holes. I think most of us see them - we see the homeless, we see the state which the worst public schools are in, we see the crime rates in their neighborhoods, we see the health care (or lack of health care) that the poor receive. If it needs repair? Hey, not saying President Obama has done a great job here either. But I’d like to think he would be willing to admit that.
A political gaffe is truly a gaffe if it reinforces a negative view we already hold re: a person. When people criticize wooden speeches by the President by knocking his use of a teleprompter, I’m surprised. The rap against the President is never going to be that he’s not a good impromptu speaker.
Today’s remarks by Gov. Romney reinforce the concept that President Romney would have an agenda slanted away from the poor. Combine it with his comments that the poor should pay more in federal income taxes and that the foreclosure process should be allowed to proceed without government restriction, regulation, or interruption (with foreclosed homes being sold to “investors”)? You’ve got a candidate who truly doesn’t give a cr*p about the poor. I bet there are voters who are under water on mortgages who think they are poor. I bet there are voters who have jobs and yet still think they are poor. Those people were basically told “forget paying attention to my campaign” by Mitt Romney today. Not a smart move.
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