You know the ones who, as David Sedaris said during the last election, can't decide between the chicken and the plate of crap with the broken glass.

How do we know this pisses off the independent voters? And why should we think that many of these undecided voters would not cheer the comments by Romney? Just asking?

1) Assumes that those not paying income tax are ALL Obama voters; and visa versa that all Obama voters don't pay taxes.

On its face this is nonsense and defies logic and presumes people are all so stupid as to buy the logic. Just below the surface it is just outright contempt. Many undecided voters are undecided because of the perceived ugly partisan bickering in DC that prevents any real actions from occurring (per no jobs act during the height of a long and ongoing recession.)

2) Within his statements he includes food as an entitlement. Just under that sentiment reveals a contempt for any safety net.

Sure this is what the teaparty randian GOP party folks say to each other... but this isn't some media clown. But this clip rips the mask off for the public to see - This is a guy who wants to run the country and who has an ugly picture of what/who Americans are.

YMMV

--the snapshot, the soundbite that tells all & confirms our worst fears.

Right--it's the dripping, multilayered contempt. This intimate coded message to wealthy insiders, who sit eating and nodding--reassured that if they make it happen for RMoney the plundering can go on & the peasants will be perfectly happy with the scraps thrown out the back door.

This is Hugh. Rombot's Macaca

Thank you Hugh

And it is contemptible.

Perfect for the Republican Party.

I think he felt his base slipping away from him and I think he may have helped himself with his base? Anymore, that is almost the entire Republican Party.

He does have contempt for any safety net, as you pointed out with your comment about food.

I am still skeptical that it will help the Democratic Party.

watch the news this morning.

He just told seniors on SS, Medicare, and Medicaid that he doesn't care about them. I'm pretty sure there are a few seniors that might not appreciate that sentiment. The AARP certainly isn't going to like it and they advertise heavily to their members, many of whom are in Florida. And I think Florida is important to the election, don't you?

most of these are on Social Security, and pay little or no taxes. He just insulted the hell out every one of them.

properly, so they reserve their support for the most egalitarian of the candidates.

Romney just showed himself to be the most selfish, contemptuous elitist imaginable. Independents can no longer pretend to themselves that conservatives like Romney are for The People in a way the Democrats are not.. If they value their intellectual integrity (and believe me, justified or not, they think of themselves as superior thinkers) They must edge away from Mitt. They have given him an equal chance to convince them and he has failed over and over, or rather successfully revealed himself to NOT be presidential.

and I do think that this can hurt him. Not to mention this very important angle: It throws Mitt off track. This is not what he wants the media to focus on. He's trying to get his message out. He can't right now.

whose votes Romney has been counting on.

But I don't think we can assume that all "independents" would be turned off by his comments??

since when is it necessary for something that's damaging be offensive to all (100%) of a political category.

you're moving the goalposts.

i don't even know that you're arguing this reasonably anymore.

Their attitude is "I paid into the system all my life, and, now, I'm only getting back what's due to me. (Besides, I'm white, so Romney obviously wasn't speaking about me.)"

Is there a differnce? In each argument is a huge, giant judgement of a class of millions of people. Your post says that all Social Security beneficiaries who are white are also racists. Mitt says they are all lazy. Which is the more winning argument?

an obnoxious sense of self-grandiosity and entitlement.

..and Limbaugh and Hannity and all the right-wingers will be singing his praises today, would be my guess.

but I find there are a lot of right-wingers - particularly the working-class right-wingers and social conservatives are not economic ideologues. In fact many are driven by a deeply misguided version of class struggle. Social conservatives and most rank and file of the religious right are just pawns in the game. The beauty of the Romney/Ryan ticket is that it shifts the attention to the real agenda of the right-wing of the Republican Party which is economic to its very core.

to vote for him. These folks voted for McCain Palin - and there just aren't enough of those votes to win.

Playing into the caricature of Thurston Howell - with a double dose of contempt for the population and a mean sense of self-entitlement (per I don't have to show *my* tax returns) while mocking others.

His "yuck" factor went up a whole lot.

The folks who will be praising him tomorrow - aren't influential with folks outside the teaparty and the Randian members of the 1%.

not always sung the praises of every dipwad Republican? So what's new or different about that?

The entire message from Republicans now is that half of the citizenry is lazy and that America sucks.

If people have faith in their fellow citizens and this country, they'll vote for Obama. If not, they'll vote for Romney. I'm sure there are some independents who will be offended by Romney's entire message and his being completely out of touch.

is not what Presidents do.

I'm sure Barack Obama will spell it out for you in greater detail later today, tomorrow and the next day.

and telling them he has written them off and doesn't care about them isn't helping him get them out to vote.

going to vote for their guy. Obviously, this video isn't going to swing them.

But, the bases have to be built on. The base will NOT win your election for you. You have to attract a substantial number of people over and above your base.

Something tells me that holding pressers after 10 pm on a Monday night in an effort to put out only the most RECENT fire in your campaign isn't exactly an attractive strategy.

He ended the interview by saying he was off to put a bag over his head.

We have to make sure that everyone focuses on the "47% who don't pay taxes" aspect so that the huge number of Republicans and independents in that group know they have been labelled moochers who don't understand personal responsibility. Social Security recipients and workers who would have voted for Romney have been insulted. Most Obama voters pay income tax just as most Republicans do. The 47% of people Romney just ridiculed and put down are across party lines.

Republicans grasp at that 53% to 47% thing like a big shiny object. Duh, they think, 53% moochers and 47% hard working taxpayers. Duh is right.

He surely can not afford to lose them.

Mitt (and a few here) seem to think that 'the elderly' or 'Social Secutity beneficiaries' pay no income taxes and that is not the case for a huge chunk of those people. Those in the 36% really hate being told they don't pay any taxes.

qualify for government assistance because they don't bring home enough to cover basics like food, housing and health care. He refers to food as an entitlement when it is a necessity of survival. He comes across as arrogant and not concerned about half of the people in this country. Obama's campaign was right, how can a person be President of the United States when he doesn't think that he has to do anything for half of the people.

I saw Ted Strickland on some MSNBC show say that it proves Romney isn't fit to be president.

I agree. But I also think that many of the people he was talking about won't think he's talking about them. I saw a survey a while ago that asked people whether they've ever taken help from the government. Many social security and medicare recipients said they hadn't.

I hope it is the game changer it ought to be. But I think lots of voters will tell themselves that Mitt is talking about that other guy, not them.

One in particular I know is definitely getting help from the government but she thinks she isn't and complains about Obama's "socialism" all the time.

True she would never have voted for Obama in the first place, but I know a lot of people who wrongly believe like her.

.

stuff like that. It's like the Miss America Pageant. Contestants are expected to name "World Peace" or other feel good things. If they don't, it's kinda shocking. Presidential candidates simply don't say crap like Romney said in public. It pisses people off.

The "base" of the Republican Party is not numerous enough to elect a President. Candidates need a much, much broader appeal. Who do you suppose his 47% statement appeals to?

It was a tone deaf, brain dead thing to say.

He didn't only say that there is no point in winning over 47% of the voters in the election, he went on to personally insult them / us, too!

He basically called Obamas base unmotivated, irresponsible, lazy freeloaders who don't pay taxes and won't take personal responsibility. Not only is it not true, it is so insulting!

Obama has once or twice stuck his foot in his mouth about the republican base, for instance the clinging to guns comment. But Obama has NEVER come ANYWHERE NEAR the level of this rude dismissal Romney made.

It may be discussed for a couple of days, but will fade. I think we may at some point see the whole tape - hear the question to which Romney was responding, but barring that it just ceases to be news after a while.

The first debate is two weeks away. This likely will come up as a question to Romney, who surely will have a well-rehearsed answer. That probably will be that for the issue.

I don't see this being a deciding factor for most people.

Of course, if the Obama camp makes this a focus of an ad campaign, that might have an effect.

The reality is, though, people have short memories, and six weeks is a long time in an election cycle.

two problematic narratives floating around out there... that this guy stumbles his way through wrong-headed easily-disputed positions....and....that he's willing to say anything -- even if wrong -- to any crowd to get their attention.

Every week he proves he's minor leagues.

I'm sure there are some hardass goprs out there who might align with a flawed philosophy that denigrates yet another segment on our citizenry -- they are always up for that -- but at this point can that hardass really believe that anything Romney says is really reflective of Romney's true beliefs, whatever they are?

That should be enough to disqualify him from being a politician.

I think it was helpful to discuss.

By all rights, these type of comments should destroy his candidacy.