PLANK NOVEMBER 14, 2012
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Day-in and day-out between mid-September and early October, Mitt Romney swore that voters had gotten the wrong idea from his 47 percent riff. He insisted his campaign was devoted to the “100 percent of America” for whom “life has become harder.” He ran ads about how he was a truly compassionate person who just had a different way of measuring compassion than Barack Obama. His running mate pronounced the comments a “misstep” and chalked them up to an “inarticulate way of describing how we’re worried … more people have become dependent on government.” When none of that worked, Romney took to Fox News and denounced his own comments as “just completely wrong.”
Judging from Romney’s poll numbers during this quasi-apology tour, most voters weren’t really listening. Alas, it became clear on Wednesday that Romney wasn’t listening either. During a conference call with donors, the same demographic that got him in trouble the first time around, Romney chalked up last Tuesday’s loss to “the gifts” the Obama administration handed out to minorities, young voters, and women. “The President’s campaign focused on giving targeted groups a big gift,” Romney lamented, according to The Los Angeles Times. And those gifts proved “highly motivational.”
During the campaign, Romney’s explanation for his ugly comments was that “now and then you’re gonna say something that doesn’t come out right” when you do hundreds of speeches and Q&A’s. And, in fairness, it does look like he’s refined his bitter rich-guy spiel since that notorious Boca Raton fundraiser. Back then, Romney complained that the 47 percent “believe that they are victims” and “that they are entitled” to government goodies like health care and housing. This time, Romney oh-so-deftly expunged any talk of victimhood or entitlement (at least so far as we know). In this new rendition, the people who voted against him just happened to be on the receiving end of a government spending spree worth “trillions of dollars,” through no particular fault of their own. What were they going to do—turn it down? Let it not be said that Romney doesn’t learn from his mistakes.
On the off-chance this nonsense still needs rebutting, let’s be very clear: There are plenty of reliable Republicans who get heaping piles of government goodies, as my colleague Jonathan Cohn has explained: seniors who love their Medicare, veterans who depend on VA benefits, corporations that gorge on lavish subsidies. Believe it or not, there are even wealthy financiers out there who don’t pay income taxes on their loot and who deduct the mortgage interest on their vacation homes. (Not that I have anyone specific in mind.) Cohn points out that Romney himself promised an exceedingly large “gift” to elderly Republican voters: restoring $718 billion worth of savings from Medicare that Obama had achieved through the Affordable Care Act.
The question we all debated when Romney delivered his original monologue on distributional justice was whether he genuinely believed it, or whether he was simply telling conservatives and the aggrieved rich what they wanted to hear. Many argued that Romney must have been speaking from the heart because he assumed his comments would stay private. There was no reason to lie. Others—myself included—posited that no one, not even the chronically oblivious GOP nominee, could labor under the assumption that something he told a few hundred people would stay under wraps. Romney must have been pandering to conservatives; it just happened to be a singularly cartoonish and ham-handed attempt. Of course, the second interpretation didn’t make Romney’s disquisition any more excusable (arguably less so). But it did hold out some small chance that a Romney presidency wouldn’t be as objectionable as the comments suggested.
On one level, we still can’t say for sure whether or not Romney believes this stuff deep down. (Though Jon Chait makes a good case that he must.) His audience for this latest trip to the makers-and-takers well included the same alienated plutocrats whose pain he felt in South Florida. It’s possible that he has a reflex for grossly incompetent pandering he just can’t suppress.
But on another level, if your moral sense is so attenuated you’re able to spout the same vile pabulum even after it’s been thoroughly debunked by the media, even after you went to great rhetorical lengths to distance yourself from it, even after it arguably cost you a presidential election, then it’s safe to say it's what you stand for in every practical and moral sense. There are no more distinctions for any remotely serious person to parse, if there ever were any.
30 comments
Some things in life are bad They can really make you mad Other things just make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle Don't grumble, give a whistle And this'll help things turn out for the best... And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life... Mitt Romney will never be President. For the next few months whenever I feel blue or upset all I have to do is remember Mitt will never be President. And since he is not even an elected official he has the exact same status as me; a private citizen. Who the hell is going to care what he thinks or says in a few months? And being how much Romney shunned the media I don't see anyone rushing to beat down his door for interviews in the future. Democrats hate him for being an asshole, Republicans will hate him for losing what they think should have been a cakewalk, and not just losing, getting walloped. I am absolutely delighted.
- blackton
November 14, 2012 at 11:48pm
Thank you, blackton, for that sense of perspective.
- austinous
November 15, 2012 at 12:01am
Not to mention the trillions of dollars in tax giveaways, from lower marginal rates on individuals and corporations to lower capital gains rates to continuing the carried-interest loophole, that Romney kept promising as gifts to his (donor) base at every single turn. That's much more Santa Claus-ing than Obama had to manage to cobble together an even broader electoral coalition. This notion on the right that people only ever do things out of material self-interest -- the most speciously ridiculous example is the claim that climate scientists are in it for the lavish research grants (while completely ignoring the naked self-interest that fossil fuel corporations have in stopping action on climate!) -- really demonstrates that these people don't even have a concept of what empathy, or community, is.
- paytonc
November 15, 2012 at 2:06am
That Romney dude is one slow learner. But so are at least tens of millions of other Republicans. "Free stuff" has become the catchword that they blame everything that's wrong with America on--while reeling in all kinds of free stuff themselves, of course. Humans in general are slow learners; Republicans are some of the slowest--and most hypocritical.
- magboy47.
November 15, 2012 at 2:27am
Not sure how useful it is to try to divine what Romney believes...from anything he says in any context. Even if he thought his words would never leave the room, I think he was saying what the rich guys within those walls wanted to hear. As for his post-mortem explanation, it could just be that it's the narrative he thinks will resonate with the people with whom he wants to save face. He was paraphrasing Bill O'Reilly, a pretty safe thing to do when you're talking with conservatives. I suppose I would just assume everything a politician says is essentially pandering in one way or another, but with Romney, I assume his true opinions are held pretty close to the vest, sort of like his tax returns. Actually, he could even be the kind of guy who thinks his own opinions are so irrelevant to his ambitions that he hardly even knows what they are. It really doesn't seem to matter what he thinks for any of the choices he makes. I don't see why that would be any different after he'd been sworn in as president.
- arock28
November 15, 2012 at 6:32am
Government goodies are often hidden in plain sight. In my small southern community a very successful swimming pool builder (he builds extravagant pools for wealthy customers, not the simple rectangular variety) is well known for his dislike of Obama, and planted signs in his yard with a picture of Obama's head with a long, Pinocchio nose (signifying that Obama is a liar) and writes letters to the editor about the "free stuff" Obama gives to the undeserving. I suspect that it has never occurred to him that he and his customers are beneficiaries of government goodies, for the home mortgage interest deduction shifts at least a third of the cost of the swimming pool to the taxpayers. Whether he and his customers are undeserving of the government goodies I cannot say. One might say they are drowning in government goodies.
- rayward
November 15, 2012 at 6:47am
Who got the money from the wall street bailout? Who got the money from the prescription drug benefit? Who got the money from the Iraq war? Single women? Young voters? No wonder Romney told us we'll get 12 million jobs from tax cuts he later said would not happen. At first I thought Romney's reliance on etch a sketching and distortions of fact to make his political case indicated dishonesty, but he's just disconnected from reality. People didn't vote for him not because of trinkets and toys but simply because he stinks bad.
- Nusholtz
November 15, 2012 at 7:58am
Romney is so right! If Obama hadn't given out all those gifts, like Obamacare, contraceptives, etc., young voters, parents of kids newly eligible for coverage under their parents' health insurance, African American voters, Hispanic voters would all have voted Republican. Especially when they considered and analyzed Romney's plan for the economy.
- BillW
November 15, 2012 at 7:58am
One Republican meme is that Obama painted Romney as a clueless patrician who's policies only favored the top 1%. I think it's much more true that Romney paints Romney as a clueless patrician who only favors the top 1%. This isn't some liberal propaganda, it's Romney himself demonstrating this message with his words over and over again. And the Republican echoing of "we only lost because Obama panders" proves yet again that the Republican party itself is full of clueless patricians who only favor the top 1%. The good news is, this isn't going to change. The bad news is, apparently almost 1/2 of the American Electorate favors Republicans.
- AllanL5
November 15, 2012 at 8:45am
And he can't even get the facts right. If you stay on your parents' policy until you're 26, they still have to pay the premium, it's not "free". You get lower cost health insurance, not "free health care", and only until you're 26, not "in perpetuity".
- s.trabka@frontier.com-old
November 15, 2012 at 9:12am
If you think that what someone receives until they turn 26 is actually a gift "in perpetuity", then math really isn't your strong suit.
- wildboy
November 15, 2012 at 9:46am
I'll tell you what I think is getting something for free. Ryan's losing to Obama's campaign plan for top rate increases (against his top rate cuts) and claiming the President doesn't have a mandate because the House of Representatives is still in Republican control.
- Nusholtz
November 15, 2012 at 10:10am
Blackton says rhetorically "For the next few months whenever I feel blue or upset all I have to do is remember Mitt will never be President. And since he is not even an elected official he has the exact same status as me; a private citizen. Who the hell is going to care what he thinks or says in a few months?" Umm...I'm still waiting for private citizen Sarah Palin to go quietly into that good night or at least pray someone gives her a pair of concrete shoes to wear.
- singlspeed
November 15, 2012 at 10:56am
Well my wife the "moocher" who makes $45K a year got a great gift this past tax season - she was only taxed at 23%! Why that's a full 2% less than the year before. I told that she should be thankful that Obama gifted her some other free goodies like the Lilly-Ledbetter Act, insurance-provided contraceptives and preventative care, etcetera, etcetera. In fact we got so many 'gifts' from Obama that we actually are going to regift them to our conservative relatives this Christmas. Imagine my Republican brother-in-law's surprise when he opens up his Obamacare Snuggie. He can bristles with inner-hate-warm each night as he wraps himself up in his snuggie as he tries to keep warm because the government subsidized heating oil delivery won't arrive in time - what with all the 'entitlement' cuts his party votes for.
- singlspeed
November 15, 2012 at 11:06am
What's interesting about Romney's comments is how they continue to help Obama. This will legitimize Obama further, deflate conservatives, and help the GOP rank-and-file conclude that it was the candidate who lost, not the party (therefore Ryan is a good bet next time!). Romney keeps losing the election even after it's been decided.
- polcereal
November 15, 2012 at 11:36am
It is remarkable to me that Romney continues to dig himself in a hole with these themes. He's history, of course, so in one sense it doesn't matter. But is the guy really so tone deaf that he doesn't understand that he lost in no small part because of this? Does he think anybody gives a rat's ass about his excuses? Because, make no mistake, this a guy not used to losing who is making excuses for a major failure.
- IowaBeauty
November 15, 2012 at 12:34pm
Oh come on people - don't you know that Romney, the Massacusetts liberal, is and has always been an Obama operative? The latest speech to the donors is just his way of bolstering Obama's position in the fiscal cliff negotiations. Show me one Republican who will dare talk about tax cuts for the rich after this calamity. They can kiss 2014 good bye. The other explanation is that he, like McCain, can't quite believe he lost to a Kenyan Muslim anti-colonial Carter-like failure with Hussein as a middle name. I will say this: I thank Willard for his courageous intervention, at this last hour, to express exactly what he and his set feel about America. If there was any doubt, any at all, about the sincerity of the 100% conversion, it is gone. And Republicans are on notice, as indeed the oiks Jindal and Kristol have discovered: the class warfare they have been waging on American workers and on the American middle class has run its course. Obama, the feckless clueless community organizer, will tie them to Romney's words every chance he gets - and some that he simply will create. It will be fun to watch.
- icarus-r
November 15, 2012 at 12:53pm
Iowa: yes, he really is that tone-deaf. :)
- icarus-r
November 15, 2012 at 12:54pm
Wildboy said: "If you think that what someone receives until they turn 26 is actually a gift "in perpetuity", then math really isn't your strong suit." Yeah, it's the opposite of "in perpetuity" -- those years in your early twenties go by FAST. Good times, good times. Where was I? Oh yeah, I was also going to mention that I wish Romney would take a cue from McCain and get all depressed and angry and disappear for at least a couple of years.
- Fishpeddler
November 15, 2012 at 1:29pm
While I can barely look at Romney, let alone listen to him, without feeling ill, I don't have to do either. I hope he never goes away and never shuts up. The more he talks, the more he sinks the Republican party. If ever he gets on my nerves, I have only to think, much like blackton, that Mitt and Ann will never occupy the White House. And that brings a smile to my face.
- roidubouloi
November 15, 2012 at 1:41pm
After reading Garry Wills's devastating article in NYRB (What Romney Lost), I felt a little sorry for him. That didn't last very long.
- dstatton
November 15, 2012 at 2:01pm
And, pace Romney's comments, now we know why Obama won in NH - the lily-white "Live Free or Die" state: them thar' neeegras. http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/11/15/maine_gop_chair_says_blacks_came_to_rural_towns_to_vote.html One thing I have to say - regardless of what one thinks about the feckless clueless community organiser - he slayed McCain and Romney, two of the most dangerous shapeshifting amoral politicians since Nixon. When the history of his presidency is written, it will not be Obamacare or Iraq or the fiscal cliff that will be his signal achievement, but keeping naked lying entitled warmongering ambition out of the White House.
- icarus-r
November 15, 2012 at 2:18pm
A link to the Wills article mentioned by dstatton: http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/nov/09/what-romney-lost/ As always, Wills is brilliant.
- icarus-r
November 15, 2012 at 2:25pm
Amen to much of what has already been said. In many ways, this is even worse than R's 47 percent comment in that it was much more specific. There really can't be any doubt about where his sympathies and obliviousness lie. One of the many blessings of this election is that we won't have to see or hear much more of Romney. What I find infuriating, though, is the self-satisfied, self-deluded, self-entitled hypocrisy in Romney's comments. This guy, more than the vast majority of Americans, has milked the system by exploiting its tax breaks to eviscerate companies and build much of his fortune. He's paid a much lower tax rate than most of us and has evaded even having to reveal all of the tricks he pulled in doing so. If there is anyone who has gotten gifts from the government, it's been Mitt Romney. Having said all that, let's not dismiss this perspective as a thing of the Republican past. Many folks still fee that way, with propaganda machine that is Faux News still promoting the "taker" rhetoric. Witness, for example, O'Reilly's post-election claims that Obama won because the majority of voters want free stuff.
- Thunderroad
November 15, 2012 at 3:25pm
Romney can partially redeem himself by getting plastic surgery to change his all too identifiable visage, by changing his identity (without preying on anybody else to do so) for a couple of years, and then putting maybe a $1,000 dollars in his pocket (for getting out of jail money) and then living on his own as a REALLY average citizen for a couple of years and then reporting back to see if he learned anything about what it is like to be an average citizen in America.
- skahn
November 15, 2012 at 4:27pm
Anybody else thinking about Molly Ivins and her "first rule of holes" here? If only she were still around to have been able to write about this election...
- hairdan
November 15, 2012 at 4:47pm
Thank goodness he lost. That 47% comment was no fluke.
- Sophia
November 15, 2012 at 7:35pm
Romney is the gift that keeps on giving.
- magboy47.
November 15, 2012 at 7:36pm
You know what really would have been shocking? What if Romney was classy in this call, what if he took the blame for the loss directly on himself, that he let down his supporters through his own faults and what if he apologized for not being worthy of the faith they placed in him? And what if I grew wings out of my ass? Hell, both seems as likely to happen in the future.
- blackton
November 15, 2012 at 9:58pm
I was actually hoping he would be classy and try to heal the rift between Democrats and Republicans and also between classes and groups of Americans, since we're all Americans. But nooooooooo. His comments are really offensive. One of the meanest things he said, that we Obama voters are just bought and second that we have no interest in big ideas. WTF. PS I want my goodie basket.
- Sophia
November 15, 2012 at 10:27pm