It reportedly shows Mr Romney addressing wealthy donors earlier this year and
speaking candidly about his strategy of focusing on the small sliver of the
population that remains undecided ahead of November’s election and not
attempting to win over low income voters.
“There are 47 percent who are with [Mr Obama], who are dependent upon
government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government
has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to
health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” Mr Romney said. “And
they will vote for this president no matter what.”
The Obama campaign immediately seized on the footage Jim Messina, the
President’s campaign manager, said: “It’s hard to serve as president
for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation”.
In the footage, Mr Romney also cautions against harshly criticising the
President because it could alienate voters who supported him in 2008 and
continue to like him personally, even if they disapprove of his handling of
the economy.
“When you say to them, ‘Do you think Barack Obama is a failure?’ they
overwhelmingly say no. They like him. But when you say, ‘Are you
disappointed that his policies haven’t worked?’ they say yes. And because
they voted for him, they don’t want to be told that they were wrong, that
he’s a bad guy, that he did bad things, that he’s corrupt.”
Mr Romney also jokes about his father, George Romney, who was born in Mexico
to American parents, suggesting that there would be an electoral advantage
if he were of Hispanic descent.
“He was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there
for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful
to be Latino,” he said.
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