Romney 2012?

My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico ... and uh, had he been born of uh, Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this," Romney says in the video. "But 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."

Romney's line got laughs, perhaps because his audience was aware that he could indeed use all the help he can get with Latinos. President Barack Obama is walloping him by a nearly 40 percent margin in polls of the group.

Romney is not Mexican, but his ancestors were white Americans who moved to Mexico when the state of Utah banned polygamy. Romney's son, Craig, cut a Spanish-language radio ad in August making a point similar to the one that his father did at the fundraiser. "My grandfather George was born in Mexico," Craig noted, leaving out the reason why.

TPM Editor’s Blog
Devastating
Josh Marshall September 17, 2012, 5:11 PM 5423

This is a Holiday for my folks. So I’ve only been half in touch with the news today. And I’m just getting up to speed on this purported tape of Mitt Romney saying he thinks the 47% of Americans who support Barack Obama are moochers who thinks the government has to take care of them. It’s rare when the impact of some gaffe or embarrassment or revelation isn’t overstated on first blush. But this strikes me as possibly that rare exception. This tape strikes me as absolutely devastating.

First, provenance. Our news team is currently reporting the story out. I don’t know the provenance of the tape. It’s apparently been bouncing around on the interwebs before getting published on Mother Jones. But I know David Corn. And he wouldn’t have posted it under his name if he weren’t pretty certain he had the authenticity of the tape nailed. So I’m assuming the tape is legit for the purposes of what I say below.

This is a fine distillation of the most rancid version of the libertarian conservative worldview. Democrats are moochers and losers who can’t get their act together and think the government owes them food, board, health care and basically whatever else they want. You don’t need to look long to find this version of reality on the web. But this isn’t some right-wing blogger. It’s the Republican candidate for President of the United States.

Here’s the actual text …

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.

And here’s the video …

Fringier folks in the GOP say things like this. Gary Bauer did just a couple days ago when he said Obama’s coalition was made up of welfare recipients and vote fraudsters. Bauer though was smart enough not to put a percentage to the charge. Which deprives Romney of a vital wiggle room. He’s not just talking about some few percentage point of the moocher vote. He’s talking about everybody who supports Obama.

So if some Democrat says that if you support Barack Obama, Romney is talking about you and that Democrat would be on steel-reinforced ground. Are you one of those 47% of the electorate that the polls consistently tell us support Barack Obama? He’s talking about you. It’s not an exaggeration.

So the country is divided in two: on one side, the self-sufficient and high-achieving Republicans and on the other side the losers who think government needs to take care of them.

This is the caricature of Mitt Romney, who was born on 3rd base (in Ann Richards memorable phrase), thinks he hit a triple and thinks the broad middle class who’ve relied on government for student loans or social security or anything else are losers who can’t get their act together and take responsibility for themselves. Only this tape says that caricature Mitt Romney is the real Mitt Romney.

Big problem.

@alexcast "their strategy to distract from any internal campaign dissension is certainly working."

"Of course individuals are going to take responsibility for their life, and my campaign is about helping people take more responsibility and becoming employed again — particularly those who don't have work," Romney said at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif.

"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," Romney said.

Romney added: "My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Mother Jones has obtained video of Romney at this intimate dinner and has confirmed its authenticity. The event was held at the home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder in Boca Raton, Florida, with tickets costing $50,000 a plate. During the freewheeling conversation, a donor asked Romney how the "Palestinian problem" can be solved. Romney immediately launched into a detailed reply, asserting that the Palestinians have "no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish."

Romney spoke of "the Palestinians" as a united bloc of one mindset, and he said: "I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say there's just no way."

Romney was indicating he did not believe in the peace process and, as president, would aim to postpone significant action: "[S]o what you do is, you say, you move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem…and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it."

Romney did note there was another perspective on this knotty matter. He informed his donors that a former secretary of state—he would not say who—had told him there was "a prospect for a settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis." Romney recalled that he had replied, "Really?" Then he added that he had not asked this ex-secretary of state for further explanation.