Yes, Mittens really is an awful, awful politician

The reaction to the Marquis de Mitten’s* line about the very poor provides interesting insights into the difference in how Republicans and Democrats process information:

“I’m not concerned with the very poor. We have a safety net there,” Romney told CNN. “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90 percent, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Zandar (and many others) said that this makes Romney sound out of touch with the suffering of millions of Americans and noted that Romney’s alleged indifference to the fate of his fellow plutocrats is unconvincing. I agree.

But that quote was received very differently on the right, who accused Mittens of wanting to patch the hammock containing shiftless, t-bone-buying young bucks and Cadillac-driving welfare queens. Charles Krauthammer:

The idea that somehow we can sign [consign, stupid Daily Caller!—ed.] the poor to the safety net and we patch it and dependency is a liberal idea. Romney is a guy who came late to his new ideology and still can’t speak it very well.”

Even the wingnuttiest of Mittens’ detractors noted that the “I’m not concerned about the very poor” line made Mittens sound like a clueless fat cat. It’s obvious that Mittens was trying to appeal to “Real Americans” with that argument. He just really, really sucks at it.

*H/T: Zandar

[X-POSTED at Balloon Juice]

Posted by Betty Cracker on 02/02/12 at 08:32 AM • Permalink

Categories: Politics • Election '12 • Mittens •

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So if Mitt Romney becomes the President of USA, Inc., is he going to sell off all those States that aren’t performing up to expectation or are a drag on earnings? And will Bo Obama have to ride on top of Romney’s car?

Comment by J. on 02/02/12 at 09:06 AM

Which would be the ‘non-performing’ states? Those that receive more from the federal government than they pay? Or the blue states? There’s not a lot of intersection between those two sets.

Comment by Left Coast Tom on 02/02/12 at 12:15 PM

What Tom said, because California is the leader in sending money to DC and getting less back on every dollar than any other state. By far. So does this mean Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Louisiana get outsourced to the Marianas?

Comment by HumboldtBlue on 02/02/12 at 01:06 PM

And we retreat from feudalism ending up with something that looks like the modern European welfare state? Sound good. Make Mine A Mitt!

Comment by Jewish Steel on 02/02/12 at 04:12 PM

Anyone who believes Mittens will “patch” the holes in the safety net needs their head examined.

He’ll definitely inspect them, of course.

In order to enlarge them.

And then make the “repair” so that it’s no longer functional at all.

Thanks for the reportage!

Comment by Suzan on 02/02/12 at 04:26 PM

C’mon guys, Mittens loves the poor. That’s why he spent his career working to create more of them.

Comment by Glix on 02/02/12 at 07:02 PM

The sad thing is, he’s only stating what the Republican ideology really is, they don’t give a damn about the poor. He just wasn’t SUPPOSED to say that. After all, until he did, the rest of us were supposedly clueless about their agenda.

Republicans think they’re smarter than they really are. :P

Comment by domynoe on 02/02/12 at 07:18 PM

To Mittens’ credit, he at least supports tying the minimum wage to inflation, something we should have done long ago. But yes, he’s a terrible politician, in that he doesn’t lie very well, and doesn’t even recognize when he should be lying.