THE STUDY FEBRUARY 1, 2012
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After winning big in Florida last night, Mitt Romney promptly stepped in it today. Appearing on CNN, the frontrunner candidly admitted, “I’m not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there.” When questioned on that statement, Romney kept his composure, but his clarification did not sound any less tone-deaf than his original remark. Is he out of touch?
Polling data suggests that Romney’s sentiments may not actually be too far from the mainstream. The Pew Research Center for People and the Press regularly polls Americans on their top policy priorities. In 2011, just 52 percent of respondents ranked “dealing with the problems of the poor and needy” as “a top priority.” That number seems to go down during recessions: It has been fairly stable since 2008, and though it peaked at 63 percent in 2001, it fell sharply to 44 percent the next year before recovering in the mid-2000s. It will come as no surprise that Romney’s position is less of an outlier in his own party: In 2011, 48 percent of independents and 66 percent of Democrats ranked the issue as a top priority, but only 40 percent of Republicans felt the same way.
8 comments
I think the problem is less the apparently chilly lack of human sympathy and more the clever (crude, but clever) way he manages to make the Democrats the Party of the Poor.
- ironyroad
February 1, 2012 at 3:57pm
Oh brother. I can see it now, "The Party Of The Food Stamps, Which They Got From Taking Money From You, The Producers!"
- Sophia
February 1, 2012 at 4:52pm
Like, Bain.
- Sophia
February 1, 2012 at 4:53pm
Mr. Romney seems interested in the polling data of The Pew Research Center for People and the Press. Once the Pew Center contacts Mr. Romney to solicit his opinions, Mr. Romney can retire from public life. It's likely that that no one ever contacted by the Pew Research Center has become President of the United States.
- Doug12
February 1, 2012 at 6:01pm
What I admire is Romney's in depth study of a problem affecting millions of Americans and its solution. The problems of the poor? Safety net. Done! Next problem. Can this country tolerate another president who claims to have good instincts?
- Nusholtz
February 2, 2012 at 7:27am
I did not like him saying that he didn't care about the rich either. What gives?
- paskunac
February 2, 2012 at 2:26pm
True! The rich are suffering also! Last I checked though they have a safety net too and are JUST AS ENTITLED to Medicare and Social Security, so, what is the problem? :)
- Sophia
February 2, 2012 at 4:44pm
Well nobody cares. The only one mentioning 25 million unemployed and 10 million homes under foreclosure is yours truly. It hurts the human suffering going on. And the ignoring of our politicians and the rest of the public. Hope might come with the elections. We need leaders that will care, and that will act.
- JAIMECHUCH
February 6, 2012 at 1:18am