Associated Press
Eight years ago, John Kerry was mocked relentlessly for this ham-fisted quote: "Who among us does not love NASCAR?" In reality, Kerry never said this -- Maureen Dowd made it up, and the media ran with it, losing sight of the joke -- but the wealthy Massachusetts politician was pilloried anyway. It was, his detractors said, illustrative of Kerry's detached elitism.
Kerry's quote was bogus. Mitt Romney's latest gem, however, is real.
The Democratic National Committee is suggesting that Mitt Romney made another out of touch remark this morning during a tour at the Daytona 500 in which Romney said that while he does not "closely" follow racing he does "have great some friends who are NASCAR team owners. "
The remark came during a tour of team owner Richard Childress' facilities, when Romney was asked by an Associated Press reporter whether he follows car racing.
"Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans, but I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners," Romney responded.
In case you're inclined to see this as satire, the Associated Press posted an audio of the clip online.
The thesis that Mitt Romney just isn't especially good at his job is bolstered by new evidence all the time. Yesterday was supposed to be an easy one for the former Massachusetts governor -- show up in Florida; visit with NASCAR fans; pretend to be a regular person.
But as we've seen repeatedly in recent months, Romney has a blind spot when it comes to wealth. Does he follow car racing? No, but he's tight with the millionaires who own the teams. The line came just two days after Romney boasted about his wife driving "a couple of Cadillacs."
Indeed, a theme emerges when we consider what connects so many of Romney's tone-deaf verbal missteps, including his recent explanation that he's "not concerned about the very poor," which came on the heels of Romney insisting that making over $374,000 in speaking fees in a year is "not very much" money. It followed Romney suggesting elected office is only for the rich, clumsily talking about his fondness for being able to fire people, demanding that talk of economic justice be limited to "quiet rooms," accusing those who care about income inequality of "envy," daring Rick Perry to accept a $10,000 bet, joking about being "unemployed," arguing that those who slip into poverty are still middle class, and suggesting that Americans should somehow feel sorry for poor banks.
There was also that "corporations are people, my friend" classic.
What do all of these lines have in common? When it comes to his wealth, Romney is a clumsy rich guy who hasn't learned how to talk about these issues in public.
Update: In case it seemed as if Romney's NASCAR visit wasn't awkward enough, this was pretty remarkable, too: "[T]he crowd initially booed Mr. Romney, who occasionally struck a discordant note, as when he approached a group of fans wearing plastic ponchos. 'I like those fancy raincoats you bought,' he said. 'Really sprung for the big bucks.'"
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What's with the orange jacket? Doesn't he know the difference between a NASCAR race and deer hunting?
ROLF!
And here you go point out those little details, maybe he hoped no one would notice.....But thanks for keeping my laughter going.......
This guy is actually starting to grow on me. I love people who can make me laugh, and this guy does it just about every day. I don't think anything will beat the comment about the height of the trees in Michigan.
Being a comedian and being president are two very different things, though.
Maybe he can tour the country as a comedian next year, since he will still be "unemployed." :)
Cut the guy a break! In reality, Mitt is not only unemployed, but so are most of his "close, personal friends".
Next quote: "Some of my close, personal friends would be Afro-Americans (sic) IF I KNEW ANY."
Indeed. He should have referred to them as "NASCAR job creators."
Mitt Romney DPA
Disingenuous Pandering As*hole.
Everything that issues from his piehole is a pander .
Explains that that obviously the reason he has two Cadillacs is that he needs one for each of his houses , one on the East coast and one on the West coast.
He's one of us dontcha know , just a regular Nascar kind of guy.
I think he has a few more than two houses. What do you think, he's just some run of the mill millionaire?
My favorite John Kerry quote will forever be, "I wanna git me a huntin' license."
Mittens also went to the Driver's Meeting and was introduced there by Brian France the Chairman of NASCAR. Though this was in a sense protocol, Brian is widely disliked among the fan base so no points for Mittens. Then the tour of Pop Pop's garage seems another case (like the empty stadium) of hamish advance. Sure, Childress has beaucoup bucks but the other big time owners do too. One of them, Jack Roush, is based in Michigan (where something is about to happen rumor has it) and another one, Rick Hendrick, employs the sports perpetual "most popular driver", Dale Earnhardt Jr. Getting pictured with Jr. should have been a no-brainer.
But the best thing for him would have been to get some face time and pictures with driver Danica Patrick. The NASCAR hype machine has been going on overdrive for months about her. And she is from Arizona, another state where, rumor has it, something is about to happen.
And this leaves out the fact FOX Sports was scrambling all day to fill air for a worldwide live audience since it was raining. Mittens' people should have shoved him into a studio. They didn't. Go figger on that one.
Mittens flubbed the dub again.
To show you how convoluted US society is, even after Mitt Romney's public declaration that GM and Chrysler should declare bankruptcy, you can bet that some drunken United Autoworker member, who is also a NASCAR fan, was shoving his way through the crowd to shake Mitt's hand.
To be fair, every man is a friend of Paul Newman, and I think Paul Newman owned a team.
I think it was IndyCar, not NASCAR, but I could be wrong. He was definitely a racing guy, but more into open wheel.
But can you honestly say that there are very few differences between Paul Newman and Mitt Romney?
I'd love to see Romney's Own products. I'm sure they wouldn't be on sale at the local grocery store.
With "Romney's Own" you would never really know what was in them
Paul Newman was most into sports car racing. Besides owning he also drove in LeMans series races both overseas and in the U.S. He was good at it, too.
And he was a staunch liberal.
This may not be the place to say this, but my heart kind of goes out to Mitt Romney. It is really not his fault that he is one of the richest among us, and I would not be surprised if none of the other one per centers were able to "talk the talk." The constant refrain in my head as I watch and listen to this man, is why is he so obsessed with being the president of the United States? The quest seems to have been going on for years, and I have to wonder at what cost to his wife (of the couple of Cadillacs fame) and to his five sons, most of whom are probably decent, though wealthy, people. I have heard it said that Americans really do not resent wealth, and that is probably true as long as they don't intrude on our lives too much. But when one of them goes on a years-long quest to become the leader of the free world, then the resentment sets in and we begin to notice the obliviousness of his tone deafness to the rest of us and we begin to question his motives. My advice to Mitt Romney, should he seek it, is the same as I would give to the troops in Afghanistan: Declare victory and go home, now.
Psst, just a note - people who become President generally go on to make millions after they've left office! If people think Romney is a 1% right now, just wait and see what he does if he gets into office and beyond! You're right, generally Americans don't begrudge those with money, the problem has become that those with money begrudge paying their share of taxes and figure that the rest of US serfs need to pay more for their avarice!! I see that as treason to this nation and it's people!!
As for Mittens children - yes, they've all received their "inheritance" and are living quite well! My advise to Mittens is to just go home and stay there, period!!
Perhaps it is better that he makes these missteps. People can see who he really is. It would be worse to have someone with his views who was slick enough to hide them.
What a nutty comment!
If you were to actually look up the list of NASCAR team owners, you would find that they are mostly self-made men, not social pariah billionaires, who employ a lot of people.
You would also find that the NASCAR team ovners spend much more time in contact with the average American than Ms. Maddow does.
I'm neither a Romney voter nor a Republican, but I recognize absurdity when I read it!
Mittens tries to appeal to the redneck demographic.
I think Mistermix over at BJ had a very good insight on why Romney keeps making these "I'm so rich" gaffes: in Romney's world, money is not just how you keep score, it's also proof of personal merit. Deep down, Romney believes that his great wealth is proof of how great he is, and therefore, why he should be president. That's why it's so hard for him to avoid these comments.
To be fair… and balanced... to NASCAR owners:
The article quotes Romney as visiting with owner Richard Childress. He is a self-made millionaire whose racing history dates back to selling peanuts and programs at North Carolina race tracks.
He’s among a handful of top-tier NASCAR team owners who, if memory serves, all made their own fortunes – including Rick Hendrick, Jack Rousch, Roger Penske and a name known to all here in DC, Joe Gibbs.
If there are any big-time millionaires that have earned the affection of the working class, it’s those guys.
That doesn't change the fact that Romney emphasized his friendship with those millionaire owners. He didn't say he has friends that are fans. He didn't say his sons watch NASCAR. He said he's got millionaire friends.
It doesn't matter how those rich friends got rich. The point is that the only way he can relate to things that Americans do is via the most privileged and distant of connections.
I don't shop at Walmart, but I'm friends with the Waltons!
Did you see the 'big game'? My exclusive skybox was fantastic!
The economy is forcing many Americans to cut back. I myself have had to let go two of my personal tailors and a cordwainer!
I've got an iPhone, but I'm looking forward to the iPhone 5. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, promised to send one over!
Hendrick would be an exception here. Many in the NASCAR fan base dislike him because he, alledgedly, "bought" a pardon for himself from Bill Clinton. But in disliking Hendrick for that it reenforces their dislike of Democrats generally and those perceived as liberals particularly. Not many lefties, much less ultra left lefties like me among the hardcore fans. Of course me being me I flaunt that. :)
What an idiot! Last week he brags that his wife "drives a couple Cadilacs", now he's "friends with NASCAR owners"...
The idea is to "Pander and Pivot." (Works for left and right by the way.)
Unfortunately, Mitt's just not very credible at pandering, so he has to double down. Move farther right, engage in awkward events, try to speak colloquial English. He's in so deep he'll never be able to Pivot for the general election. The way back to the middle is gone. What (few) converts he's beguiled on the far right would feel betrayed.
Romney spelled backwards is YENMOR.
I'm reminded of this classic clip from "Frasier" (7:35 mark):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54DmgNHsPY0
"No, I'll stay here; I'm engrossed in these...'Heroes of Na-SCAR.'"
Santorum believes that colleges and universities are "indoctrinating" young people against their religion.
Santorum should keep in mind that that the religious beliefs of those young people is the result of indoctrination from their parents and other adults in their life.
While colleges and universities sometimes expose students to multiple sides of an issue through education, the parents, ministers and others brainwash them as children, telling them only one side of the issue and threatening them with eternal damnation, denied entrance into the "kingdom of heaven" and shunning them as sinners if they don't believe ideas that are contrary to the laws of nature on "faith."
Why is this form of child abuse not considered indoctrination?
Let me rephrase what Santorum said:
"As people mature and become better educated, they question things they're told to believe in as children and become more cynical about organized religion."
mpguy
Santorum is incorrect. The correct term is "skeptical", not cynical. Skepticism is healthy for everyone so that we avoid believing ideas just because other people say they are true. It is important for scientists to be both skeptical and open-minded in their pursuit of the truth. Too much religion is presented with a threat to those who are open-minded and skeptical - a threat that says that bad things will happen to you if you don't accept irrational beliefs on faith.
[Tight close-up of younger Mitt Romney's face. Camera pulls back on slow reveal over Romney quotes that scroll across screen.]
"QUESTIONER: Are there no fair questions about the distribution of wealth without it being seen as envy, though? ROMNEY: I think it's fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like."
"What's the effective rate I've been paying? It's probably closer to the 15 percent rate than anything…"
"Rick, I'll tell you what…10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet?"
"I like to be able to fire people…"
"I get speakers' fees from time to time, but not very much…" [Additional figure in parentheses scrolls by after quote: "($374,000)"]
"I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed…(laughter)"
"I drove a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually."
"Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans, but I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners..."
"I'm not concerned about the very poor…"
"Corporations are people, my friend…"
[Camera has finished it's pull back to reveal, of course, this picture. Final quote fades in at bottom third of screen:]
"Mitt Romney: Government of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%."
------------------------SCENE------------------------------------
Yep. Someone should make that ad. Mitt's practically already made it for them.
Could someone please explain why Mitt Romney walks with tiny mincing steps most of the time.
What's the difference between Mitt Romney and a socket wrench?
One is a tool that can turn this way and that to loosen nuts from their housing, the other you can buy at Lowe's.