{"id":4344,"date":"2012-02-01T12:12:11","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T17:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=4344"},"modified":"2012-02-01T12:14:22","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T17:14:22","slug":"romney-im-not-concerned-about-the-very-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/01\/romney-im-not-concerned-about-the-very-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"Romney: “I’m not concerned about the very poor.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/object><\/p>\n

On a morning when Mitt Romney should be celebrating his big win yesterday’s Florida primary, his campaign is instead trying spin remarks he made in an interview CNN’s Soledad O’Brien<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there. If it needs repair I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they are doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who are struggling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ouch, talk about squandering your victory lap.<\/p>\n

Even taken in context Gov. Romney’s remarks are cringe inducing, his reasoning plays directly into the Democratic Party’s ‘Republicans don’t care about the poor’ narrative. Not that the context even matters, the only thing people are to take away from that interview, the only thing people are going to remember is Mitt Romney saying “I’m not concerned about the very poor.”<\/p>\n

The campaign ads practically write themselves.<\/p>\n

Frankly, Jonah Goldberg is right<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“… the under-emphasized dynamic in this race isn\u2019t that Romney isn\u2019t conservative enough (though that\u2019s obviously a real concern out there) it\u2019s that he\u2019s simply not a good enough politician. He may be the most electable on paper. He\u2019s certainly a nice guy, decent father, smart, successful etc. But, every time he seems to get into his groove and pull away he says things that make people think he doesn\u2019t know how to play the game.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that more than anything else is why I think he’s the wrong candidate, for all his strengths, he has the uncanny ability to look and sound like a frighteningly bad caricature of a disconnected, elitist country club Republican.<\/p>\n

Overall, this gaffe probably isn’t fatal, but it’s worrisome — make no mistake this gaffe is going to come back haunt him. This is still Romney’s campaign to lose, he’s going to have to sharpen his focus and make sure he doesn’t fall into the class-warfare trap. This election is about the economy, the focus should be on fixing the economy so that everyone benefits not pitting one group of Americans against another, the way Barack Obama has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a morning when Mitt Romney should be celebrating his big win yesterday’s Florida primary, his campaign is instead trying spin remarks he made in an interview CNN’s Soledad O’Brien: I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there. If it needs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[748,94],"class_list":{"0":"post-4344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-politics","7":"tag-2012-elections","8":"tag-mitt-romney","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-184","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4710,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/04\/debate-recap-a-drubbing-in-denver\/","url_meta":{"origin":4344,"position":0},"title":"Debate Recap — A Drubbing in Denver","author":"Jeff","date":"October 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As I watched the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney last night I kept hearing Howard Cosell's voice in the back of my mind... \"Down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier!\" I expected Mitt Romney to fair pretty well in a head to head debate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/dkrwUU_YApE\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1026,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/19\/mitt-romney-let-detroit-go-bankrupt\/","url_meta":{"origin":4344,"position":1},"title":"Mitt Romney: Let Detroit Go Bankrupt","author":"Jeff","date":"November 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has a must read Op Ed on troubles facing Chrysler, Ford and GM in today's New York Times. Let Detroit Go Bankrupt By Mitt Romney, New York Times Op-Ed, Wednesday, November 18, 2008 Boston IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4572,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/11\/video-romney-chooses-ryan\/","url_meta":{"origin":4344,"position":2},"title":"Video: Romney Chooses Ryan","author":"Jeff","date":"August 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Four years ago John McCain shocked the political establishment by choosing the Alaska Governor Sarah as his running mate... Mitt Romney announcement of Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his Vice Presidential pick in Norfolk, VA. is no less bold: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X2jMViSW0x0 Paul Ryan, is a young, articulate, intelligent, energetic, courageous, conservative\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/X2jMViSW0x0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4520,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/07\/s-e-cupp-ann-romney-is-lying\/","url_meta":{"origin":4344,"position":3},"title":"S.E. Cupp: ‘Ann Romney Is Lying’","author":"Jeff","date":"July 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh boy, judging by the comment threads at Hot Air and Breitbart, S.E. Cupp kicked over one hell of a hornet's nest on MSNBC's The Cycle tonight: The four hosts of MSNBC\u2019s The Cycle appeared with anchor Thomas Roberts on Friday where each host weighed in with their updated rankings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3660,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/04\/2012-republican-presidential-primary-straw-poll\/","url_meta":{"origin":4344,"position":4},"title":"2012 Republican Presidential Primary Straw Poll","author":"Jeff","date":"November 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It's time for round two of our 2012 Republican Presidential Primary Straw Poll. The candidates are (in not particular order): Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Mitch Daniels, Bobby Jindal, Mike Pence, Rick Perry, John Kasich, John Huntsman and John Bolton. [poll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4164,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/13\/rep-michele-bachmann-wins-iowa-straw-poll\/","url_meta":{"origin":4344,"position":5},"title":"Rep. Michele Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll","author":"Jeff","date":"August 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) won the 2011 Iowa straw poll with 28.55 percent of the vote, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) finished second with 27.65 percent and former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty finished a distant third 13.57 percent. From the Wall Street Journal: None of the 16,892 votes filed at Iowa\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}