Comm455/History of Journalism

On September 17, Mitt Romney was at a fund raiser in Florida when he candidly made some remarks about the American people, unaware that his comments being recorded. Important lesson to the Republican presidential candidate: you are running for president — you are always being recorded.

Let’s start with the direct quote:

“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…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.” – Mitt Romney

Now for the video clip, provided by Mother Jones.

The reactions to the video vary greatly on different ends of the political spectrum. Liberals cry foul while Mitt Romney stands by what he said. (And, with his history of flip-flopping, who could blame him?)

What is most interesting, is how this two-minute video clip will have a bigger impact on this election than 200 million campaign dollars.

With independent voters playing such a strong role in this election, Romney’s comments may be the deciding factor for their vote in November.

DC Decoder polled independent voters’ reaction to Romney’s comments.

53% of independent voters polled said the comments had no affect on them
29% of independent voters polled said the comments made them less likely to vote GOP
15% of independent voters polled said the comments made them more likely to vote GOP

New polls in Virgina, Florida and Ohio show President Obama with a larger victory than polls showed prior to Romney’s blunder. However, Romney’s camp insist that he is not out of the game. They are crossing their fingers for this all to blow over, and preferably before November.