"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."
"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."
I know exactly who Mitt Romney's talking about when he speaks of the "very heart of America" and the "middle income Americans." Mittens is talking about the vast score of middle-class Americans, many of them dotting "flyover country." And now Mittens wants them to feel as though they've been ignored by President Obama. After all, he's taking care of the very poor and the very rich (of which dear Mittens himself is a ranking member of), but he's brushed the middle American dirt off his slim shoulders.*
It's tragicomedy at its best: a wealthy politician pandering to middle-class Americans by pitting them against the poor and the wealthy, and big Mitt's ready to take care of them if only they cast their lot with him. Anyone who thinks this is some sort of gaffe is deluding themselves big-time.
*Romney has since backed off a bit. Now he's concerned about the very poor, just not as much as he's concerned about middle America. Cold comfort, that.
