<p class="cnnEditorialNote"></p><h1>How Romney really feels about Republicans</h1>
<div class="cnn_stryathrtmp">
<div class="cnnByline">By <strong>LZ Granderson</strong>, CNN Contributor</div>
<div class="cnn_strytmstmp">updated 4:20 PM EDT, Tue September 18, 2012</div>
</div><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong></strong></em></p><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> LZ
Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist
of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and
is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a
senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow
him on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/locs_n_laughs" target="_blank">@locs_n_laughs</a></em></p>
<p><strong><br></strong></p><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- By now, we all know about the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/18/politics/campaign-wrap/index.html">not-so-secret video of Mitt Romney</a>
calling 47% of the country a bunch of losers, or how some Republicans
are trying to spin this embarrassment as somehow being part of their
message. So, what should we make of it?</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Remember the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU_story.html" target="_blank">Washington Post story</a> from a few months ago that we dismissed as not terribly significant about Romney's bullying days in high school?</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">We thought his casual "If
I offended ... " apology was just a tone-deaf gaffe. The country's
attitude toward bullying is different now than it was when Romney was in
school, and we just figured he didn't get it. But who cares, right?
That was so many years ago -- the stuff of adolescence.</p><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">So we overlooked the fact
that he deliberately held a door closed while a sight-impaired teacher
walked into it. We overlooked the fact that he helped pin down a new kid
in school and cut his hair. In defense of his teenage years, Romney
said he's a different person today and we said OK.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">But who was the guy who said, "I'm not concerned about the very poor"?</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Who said, "I'm running for office, for Pete's sake -- I can't have illegals"?</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">"Middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less."</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/mitt-romneys-10000-mistake/2011/12/11/gIQA9aEQpO_blog.html" target="_blank">$10,000 bet</a>"?</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">And now this:</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">"There are <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/18/pf/taxes/romney-income-tax/index.html" target="_blank">47% of the people</a>
who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are
47% 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."</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">At some point, poor and
middle-class Republicans need to connect all of these tiny, seemingly
unrelated dots to see the bigger picture: These are not gaffes by Mitt
Romney.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">This is Mitt Romney.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">Republicans, especially
in the South, who are not rich, better take a good, long hard look at
the man and what he said in the video. It may seem like Romney is
trashing Democrats at the $50,000-a-plate dinner, but really he's
talking about Republicans.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">Eight of the 10 states
with the highest percentage of filers who didn't pay federal income
taxes are red states that voted for John McCain in 2008: Mississippi,
Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Idaho.
Only New Mexico and Florida voted for Obama. Conversely, of the 10
states with the lowest percentage of filers who didn't pay federal
income taxes, seven voted for Obama. Only Alaska, Wyoming and North
Dakota voted for McCain.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">So if you were at that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/romneys-leaked-video-marc-leders-house-2012-9" target="_blank">May 17 dinner at Marc Leder's home</a>
in Boca Raton when Romney said all of these people who don't pay income
taxes voted for Obama -- he lied, or didn't know his facts.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">But of course, this
should not come as a surprise. All politicians flip flop and stretch the
truth -- from your local city council to the White House. And Obama
certainly has done his share of massaging the truth. Because of this,
elections, especially like the one in November, are not about which
candidate is telling the truth, but rather whose version of the truth
can you live with.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">Romney stood in a room
full of millionaires and gave an off-the-cuff remark that called 47% of
the country is looking for a handout. He said he could never convince
that 47% to be responsible for their own lives and that his job is not
to worry about those people. That's his version of the truth.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19"></p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">The question is, does your version agree with his version?</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">I can remember working
two jobs to pay for college and not being required to file income taxes
because I did not make enough money. I don't think working two jobs made
me lazy and I am grateful that the government was there to provide
student loans to help me out. Loans I have since paid back. I might be
crazy, but I don't think I'm the only person whose version of the truth
looks like that.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">Keep in mind a large
portion of the 47% that Romney was talking about are middle- and
low-income Republicans who voted for McCain. They are not Obama-loving
Democrats. That's not spin, that's fact.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">And Romney's
characterizations of people less fortunate than himself are not gaffes.
They are glimpses into the mentality of a man who pulled a prank on a
blind teacher as a kid in high school and said he wasn't concerned about
the very poor as an adult.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">Isn't it clear by now
that these Romney hiccups are not just random occurrences that can
happen on a campaign trail? What the video released by Mother Jones
proves once and for all is that Romney is whom his words make him out to
be.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">Poor and middle-class
Republicans can still vote for Romney. But they should at least know the
truth about how he really feels about them.</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br><br><img src="http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg"><br>
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