Not 12 hours after the networks called it for him, Mitt Romney went on CNN’s Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien, spoke from the heart, and played straight into the liberal caricature that Republicans don’t have hearts.
As CNN noted in a press release:
Romney says, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair , I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich…. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”
The left will focus on his lack of concern for the very poor. The right should focus on the bit about “if [the safety net] needs a repair.” Conservatives have been making the case for quite some time that the social safety net is not working as well as it could, as efficiently as it could, and is going to bankrupt us.
But Soledad O’Brien allowed Mitt Romney to clarify his remarks in case there was a misunderstanding. He chose to dig his hole deeper.
Romney continues, “We will hear from the Democrat party, the plight of the poor…. You can focus on the very poor, that’s not my focus…. The middle income Americans, they’re the folks that are really struggling right now and they need someone that can help get this economy going for them.”