A Democratic Reflection on Mitt Romney’s Fundraiser Video

A video resurfaced of Mitt Romney, GOP Presidential nominee, speaking candidly at a private fundraiser. It revealed how Governor Romney speaks off camera, and what views he neglects to express in his public speeches. Many people were offended and shocked at the severity of his declarations. However, damaging his comments may have been to his campaign, Romney stood by his words insisting that he made a valid point, just not in the correct terms.
Romney stated, “There are 47 per cent of the people who vote for the president [Obama] no matter what. There are 47% who are dependent on the government, who believe they are victims, who believe that the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” Essentially, he is implying that the 47% of Americans who receive federal assistance are voting for Obama, which is incorrect. The more concerning part of Romney’s statement is how he casually writes off almost half of the nation he hopes to lead. He goes on to suggest that Americans on welfare are not responsible enough to take care of themselves; his implication that an American on welfare is a weak American is offensive.
Despite the severity of his words, Governor Romney attempted to defend himself. Romney stated that his words “addressed a question about direction for the country.” However, he later admitted that he “has never used the language in the video at a public event.” This caused even more outrage among the Obama Campaign. Mr. Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager sent out a fundraising appeal to Obama’s supporters, stating that a man who “demonstrates such disgust and disdain to half of our fellow Americans” does not deserve the presidency.

Acknowledgements: Zoya Teirstein for editing.
Bibliography:
The New York Times
Shear, Micheal D., and Micheal Barbaro. “In Video Clip, Romney Calls 47% ‘Dependent’ and Feeling Entitled.” Web log post. The Caucus. The New York Times, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. .

-Max Teirstein