# Romney Says He Was Wrong About The 47% **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 5, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822 "2012-10-05T16:27:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/1 "2012-10-05T16:27:35Z")
[The day after the debate, Romney now disavows his 47% claim.](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/10/05/romney-47-percent-i-was-wrong/1614703/) Boy, I bet Mitt was pissed Obama never brought it up, so that he could have used this opportunity to spin that statement. Despite the outcry from fellow Democrats (like myself) for not mentioning the 47% comment, maybe Obama didn’t bring it up because he was clever enough not to give Mitt the forum to do his spin. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/2 "2012-10-05T16:31:57Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > . Despite the outcry from fellow Democrats (like myself) for not mentioning the 47% comment, maybe Obama didn’t bring it up because he was clever enough not to give Mitt the forum to do his spin. Just what I thought. Did anyone think that Romney would be unprepared if Obama had brought up the 47% comment? I guarantee that Romney had a pre-planned little speech all ready to go. Obama simply didn’t give him a chance to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/3 "2012-10-05T16:34:22Z")
So, when is the Romney wave function going to collapse so that we know what he actually believes? If his opinions were the famous cat, it would be alive, dead, sick, pregnant and scratching the couch all at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/4 "2012-10-05T16:35:58Z")
Very thoughtful of Mitt to bring it up himself instead, now. What a polite young man he is. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/5 "2012-10-05T16:40:09Z")
If he’d said this the day the video went public, maybe someone would have given a shit (although the left would have hammered him on it anyway). At this point it’s too late. He’s “correcting” himself in public weeks after he got blasted for making a bunch of statements in private - it’s hard to accept a very belated correction under those circumstances. I don’t know which campaign advisers told Romney he could pivot to the center _starting in October_, but they should be fired. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/6 "2012-10-05T16:40:23Z")
I don’t think a lot of people will recieve that message because all the talking heads are flogging Mitt’s debate performance. I’d like to see what he had prepared. But Obama should keep running those commercials as often as that 588-2300 Empire ad. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/7 "2012-10-05T16:47:27Z")
Heh, here’s what I said in the first 47% thread: > [@me](#): > > Wow, really? I felt certain he’d walk them back, or at least qualify them into oblivion. The Obama campaign is going to spend the next week going nuts quoting Romney saying the elderly and bottom third of workers are dependent on handouts. I felt pretty confident he’d disown the comments immediately. Waiting till 99% of the damage is already done is just bizarre. He gets the damage from the comments, and then gets to feed into his reputation as a flip-flopper by going back on statements he’s been standing by for weeks. The Romney campaign is a weird scene. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/8 "2012-10-05T16:58:13Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > [The day after the debate, Romney now disavows his 47% claim.](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/10/05/romney-47-percent-i-was-wrong/1614703/) > > Boy, I bet Mitt was pissed Obama never brought it up, so that he could have used this opportunity to spin that statement. Despite the outcry from fellow Democrats (like myself) for not mentioning the 47% comment, maybe Obama didn’t bring it up because he was clever enough not to give Mitt the forum to do his spin. I said that in the debate thread. Obama bringing it up would’ve been like a pitcher tossing a meatball to a batter looking to hit one over the fence. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/9 "2012-10-05T17:01:17Z")
I think the real question is: was his disavowal of his previous statements elegantly stated? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/10 "2012-10-05T17:03:37Z")
He was wrong to get caught on camera in private saying what he won’t acknowledge in public. That was definitely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/11 "2012-10-05T17:05:33Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Heh, here’s what I said in the first 47% thread: > > I felt pretty confident he’d disown the comments immediately. Waiting till 99% of the damage is already done is just bizarre. He gets the damage from the comments, and then gets to feed into his reputation as a flip-flopper by going back on statements he’s been standing by for weeks. > > The Romney campaign is a weird scene. Really, it just served to remind people that he said it. Yeah Mitt, let’s keep in the press longer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/12 "2012-10-05T17:24:09Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If he’d said this the day the video went public, maybe someone would have given a shit (although the left would have hammered him on it anyway). At this point it’s too late. He’s “correcting” himself in public weeks after he got blasted for making a bunch of statements in private - it’s hard to accept a very belated correction under those circumstances. Especially after having said, once the tape came out, that the only problem was that he didn’t express himself elegantly, or something like that. And to take your point a little further, it’s especially late for apologizing for having _believed_ the wrong things until now. If you’re changing what you say you stand for, just one month before the election…well, let me put it this way: isn’t it a bit much, expecting someone to vote for you on the basis of stands you’ve only held for _one month_, when you’ve been running for President for years? Shouldn’t I expect a candidate for President to have a fairly constant idea of what he’s about as a politician, at least within the confines of one campaign season? Jeez. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/13 "2012-10-05T17:30:27Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And to take your point a little further, it’s especially late for apologizing for having _believed_ the wrong things until now. And of course he didn’t admit to believing anything that was wrong. He said he misspoke. And if you were offended by Romney’s rather elaborate series of remarks about how you won’t take responsibility for your life, there’s no way you would believe he just used the wrong words. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/14 "2012-10-05T17:31:33Z")
Well, I hope he also apologized to those people who paid $50,000 a plate to hear him talk. I mean, for that kind of money he shouldn’t be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/15 "2012-10-05T17:37:33Z")
Well, it was a _really_ good dinner! Pâté of proletariat, blood of the working class… ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/16 "2012-10-05T17:38:07Z")
I took his statement as meaning that 47% of people would not vote for him no matter what. Surely he doesn’t really think all of those 47% pay no taxes, they just don’t owe anything on April 15th, or may get a refund from overpayment or something like EIC. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/17 "2012-10-05T17:45:36Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I took his statement as meaning that 47% of people would not vote for him no matter what. Surely he doesn’t really think all of those 47% pay no taxes, they just don’t owe anything on April 15th, or may get a refund from overpayment or something like EIC. Regardless of what he really thinks, that’s what he said. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/18 "2012-10-05T17:59:55Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > Well, I hope he also apologized to those people who paid $50,000 a plate to hear him talk. I mean, for that kind of money he shouldn’t be wrong. That’s kind of what I was thinking. My two questions for Romney would be: 1. What convinced you that you were wrong? 2. Are you going to give back the money? ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/19 "2012-10-05T18:57:22Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That’s kind of what I was thinking. My two questions for Romney would be: > > 1. What convinced you that you were wrong? > 2. Are you going to give back the money? It would be nice if we had a group of people paid to ask candidates questions like this, who might challenge them on why their position has changed rather than just reporting what they say from day to day. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-says-he-was-wrong-about-the-47/636822/20 "2012-10-05T18:59:03Z")
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