Why the Obama Campaign Should Not Let Go of the "47 Percent"

I will concede that I am a political junkie and, as the boyfriend claims, may go into withdrawal symptoms if I'm offline for too long and cannot get my news/politics "fix."   I grew up in a family where politics were dinner table conversation and I spent eight (8) years as a City Committee member for the GOP in Virginia Beach, typically a GOP bastion in Virginia.  Along the way, I also ran my own campaign for public office and narrowly lost only because I was hit with a smear campaign that labeled me as "Christian Right" - obviously, I've had the last laugh on that fictional storyline.  Now, I am technically an independent although I admittedly find it impossible to support today's Christofascist/Tea Party controlled GOP.  

My point in relating this?   During all of this political involvement over the course of several decades, I've come to have a pretty good gut read on politicians and can see through their bullshit and disingenuous apologies.  I also have always been good with facts and figures - even Taliban Bob McDonnell recognized this fact roughly 20 years ago when I was active in the GOP and we knew each other well.  So what's my read on Mitt Romney?  His infamous statements on the "47%" of Americans that he views as parasites and moochers while speaking to his millionaire donors were his real view.  Yes, he's apologized and otherwise tried to disavow his remarks, but those remarks were an unusual glimpse at Romney speaking the truth as he sees it.   During an interview over the weekend Obama adviser, David Axelrod, made statements that indicate that the Obama campaign likewise believes that Romney's comments on the "47%" provide a rare glimpse of Romney's core beliefs.  Politico looks at Axelrod's interview.  Here are excerpts:

[O]n Sunday, the Obama campaign made it clear they’re not dropping their “47 percent” attack just because Romney’s ready to move on from it, now referring to the comments made at a Florida fundraiser in May as “completely wrong.”

David Axelrod, senior adviser to the Obama campaign, called Romney’s fresh attempt to wash his hands of the comments “unconvincing,” demonstrating that the campaign is not ready to let go of one of their major lines of attack against Romney.

“That was astonishing for a whole number of reasons,” Axelrod said of Romney’s response. “The first was, three weeks ago, he was asked this same question and he stood by the essence of what he said.”
Secondly, Axelrod argued, the ‘47 percent’ remarks were a thought-out argument, not a stray word.

“But when you look at that tape that was behind closed doors, it wasn’t just a comment. It wasn’t just a word. It was a whole exposition, it was an essay on how 47 percent of the country were shiftless people who wouldn’t take personal responsibility for themselves and so on. I mean, he slandered half the country. To say, ‘whoops, I misspoke,’ is a little unconvincing.”

On Thursday, Mitt Romney completely disavowed his 47 percent comments — changing his tune after largely defending their substance since the footage was made public in mid-September. “Well, clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of question and answer sessions, now and then you’re going to say something that doesn’t come out right,” Romney said on Fox News

Axelrod’s take echoes what White House adviser David Plouffe told reporters on Friday: “I would take with a huge grain of salt trying to clean something up five months after you’ve said it for the first time and after you doubled down on it.”