Mitt Romney must go on the offensive over his 47% remark

In a recent fundraiser, Mitt Romney served the following red meat to the party faithful:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, 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. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

The surreptitiously recorded video was unveiled at the website of the far-left magazine, Mother Jones.

The mainstream media has predictably pounced on these comments. Many mainstream, moderate conservatives are worried that Romney blew it, with David Brooks of the New York Times comparing him to Thurston Howell III. I believe they are on to something. It is something that Thurston Howell III might say. And it won’t play well in many blue collar neighbourhoods that Romney needs to win. 

But here’s the thing, Romney shouldn’t take it back. If he does, all it will do is to make him look weak… and also a liar. This is partly because his statement – that the bottom 47% of American taxpayers don’t pay income tax - is true, as the Wall Street Journal helpfully pointed out. But also because his reputation as a flip-flopper – over Romneycare – was only recently overcome, and after much effort on his part.

But the most important reason is that this fact goes to the core message that Mitt Romney needs to get across in order to win: that work and savings are the key to prosperity, that everybody has to pull his own weight, that government handouts create perverse incentives, that demonizing job creators is un-American and that when government picks winners and losers, everybody loses. You simply cannot get this message across while denying the truth that the bottom 47% of Americans don’t pay income tax.

One way to move forward, while promoting this message, is to shine a light on President Obama’s principles and how his deepest beliefs deviate from the ideals of equality of opportunity, liberty and personal responsibility. This recording of Obama saying, “I actually believe in redistribution,” which appeared on drudgereport.com is a good start. I would be a good sign if it was Romney’s campaign that got that link up on Drudge. 

Always remember: apologizing doesn’t win votes, and neither does repudiating your core message; but attacking your enemy does help.

 

UPDATE: Dick Morris, Bill Clinton's former rainmaker, agrees with me on this point.

Comments

[harebell]

You use the term far left, I don't think that means what you think it means.
I have lived in N America for 13 years now and have yet to meet even a moderate leftist in all those years.
Here there are right and even further to the right types.
All major parties are pro capitalist, low taxes, no need to pay for what you buy types who pass debt onto the next generation. Even the Liberals here were all all corporate guys or beholding to corporate guys and while they showed more fiscal responsibility than the current bunch of spend and increase the debt Harper folk, they were a far cry from even being centrist.
You do know that the NCC, AEI and all the other corporate welfare types are not good sources of information about what consititutes socialist behaviour; they've never met one either.

[Plant Guy]

Sorry dude, but Romney is going to lose. I don't say this because I'm an Obama fan. Far from it. With this economy the Republicans should have been able to run a crash test dummy and win. Romney was a poor choice for candidate.He can't connect with voters on the right or in the middle.Looking competent is O.K. if you're looking for a CEO job, but Americans want their leaders to be a bit more inspirational. If your only appeal is that you're not the other guy you shouldn't expect to win.

[Cincinnatus]

Dear harebell:

"You use the term far left, I don't think that means what you think it means.
I have lived in N America for 13 years now and have yet to meet even a moderate leftist in all those years."

Sounds like you haven't been on a university campus in the 13 years you have been here.

[WiseGuy]

Plant Guy.

You should stop paying attention to the polls. Polls are used to discourage voter turn out. If you want to know where the polls really are (the ones that we never see)you have to look at actions. Why release a [possibly]damaging video in September, instead of October, as in "October Surprise"? Because the Obama campaign was desperate to take heat off of Obama's mid-east debacle. By the way, Obama has suddenly decided to attend security briefings. Closing the barn door after the cows have gone anybody?

[Cincinnatus]

Dear harebell:

If you want to see pics of North American left-wing extremists in action, just peruse some of the articles by Zombie (http://pjmedia.com/zombie ). He regularly does photoarticles on left-wing marches in SF and Berkeley.

Revealing, no?

[bmatkin]

Romney's 47% was perfect, only the left think its insulting because they are insulted by their own guilt.
Every normal person would never ever consider themselves part of the 47% even if they were.
Its red meat for the base and any blue collar worker thinks his taxes too high already. They also think they're getting ripped off by the freeloaders.
Its a winner slogan. Fairness for the 53.