There has been a lot of speculation today about Mitt Romney‘s motivation for giving a speech to the annual NAACP Convention, and trashing Obamacare in the process. Romney himself said he “expected” to be booed for it, and in remarks first reported on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight, he demonstrated why. According to a pool report from Romney’s Hamilton, Montana fundraiser, he brought up the booing, and told donors “if they (Obamacare supporters) want more stuff from government tell them to go vote for the other guy – more free stuff. But don’t forget nothing is really free.”

The quote is so tone-deaf, and such a naked appeal to the “welfare queen” brand of racial and class resentment, that it’s almost hard to believe it’s real. --snip--