# The Romney Tapes - thoughts as to how they'll affect the election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007 "2012-09-17T21:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/521 "2012-09-30T17:34:49Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > I think it’s a clear gaffe. The wife of a potential president, who would have the nuclear launch codes, is not supposed to be publicly concerned about “his mental well-being.” You sound like a Republican. Let’s look at the quote in context, shall we? [QUOTE=Ann Romney] You know, I think my biggest concern, obviously, would just be for his mental well-being. I have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness and his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy, in his understanding of what’s missing right now in the economy - you know, pieces that are missing to get this jumpstarted. So for me I think it would just be the emotional part of it. [/QUOTE] She’s not saying “he might go crazy,” she’s saying “I’m worried the job would take its toll on him.” Let me ask this; is Michelle Obama concerned about the toll the job takes on Barack Obama? I sure as hell hope so. She’s his wife. If he doesn’t notice that his hair is greying at an alarming rate, she’s either blind or a sociopath. Why is Ann Romney wrong to say she cares about her husband? ---
**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:** [September 30, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/522 "2012-09-30T17:57:35Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > She’s not saying “he might go crazy,” she’s saying “I’m worried the job would take its toll on him.” I’m sure that is indeed what she meant. She phrased it very poorly though. That’s why it is a gaffe; She made a statement that was well meant but very poorly thought out. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/523 "2012-09-30T18:14:47Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m sure that is indeed what she meant. She phrased it very poorly though. > > That’s why it is a gaffe; She made a statement that was well meant but very poorly thought out. Eh, you read her comment and you know what she meant. I read her comment and I knew what she meant. So I question that the phrasing was poor. Any reasonable person would understand her meaning. Partisans might try to take her words and pretend they meant something else, that she was questioning her husbands mental health. But its pretty much impossible to speak at any length and avoid any construction that someone significantly malicious won’t be able to pretend to read in a manner that makes you look bad. The Romney’s have said plenty of attackable things that they _actually meant_. I don’t see any value in hunting through their every public statement to try and twist their words into something they don’t mean in the desperate search for “gaffes”. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/524 "2012-09-30T18:25:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Why is Ann Romney wrong to say she cares about her husband? Because the way she expressed her concern has a negative connotation if you choose to interpret it that way. When I first saw the story and posted it here, the story had only a few hits. Now there are over 300,000: Google search The story is now prominently featured on the front page [cnn.com](http://cnn.com) as “Ann Romney’s big concern.” Whether you agree or not, it is a newsworthy gaffe. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/525 "2012-09-30T18:34:15Z")
For example, here is a quote from a random site that came up in that Google search above: > **[Ann Romney: Worried for Mitt’s ‘Mental Well-being’](https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/160392)** > > Ann Romney’s attempt to praise her husband ends in a blooper as she expresses concern for his emotional health. > [@](#): > > Ann Romney’s attempt to praise her husband ends in a blooper as she expresses concern for his emotional health. > > Ann Romney, wife of United States presidential candidate Mitt Romney, intended to praise her husband in a recent interview with Nevada’s KTVN television station. Instead, her statements are now being used by critics to portray Romney as unstable. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/526 "2012-09-30T19:12:50Z")
I agree it was poorly phrased, but it’d be incredibly scummy to use a technique patented by [Lee Atwater against Tom Turnipseed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Atwater#1980_election). For instance, I think Stephen Fry, judging from the positions he’s made public, would make a fantastic head of state (there’s no chance he’d be elected one after what he said about Catholics though). However, he has bipolar disorder and that could be used against him very effectively by his political opponents. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/527 "2012-09-30T19:52:44Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Because the way she expressed her concern has a negative connotation if you choose to interpret it that way. When I first saw the story and posted it here, the story had only a few hits. Now there are over 300,000: Google search There are six million hits for 'obama “didn’t build that” '. The list of things that have a negative conotation “if you chose to interpret it that way” is endless, and there’s no way for a candidate to avoid making any such statements. If your wiling to be obtuse enough, you can always find some fragment of a speech that “can be taken” to sound bad. Doesn’t mean the rest of us have to take such BS interpretations seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/528 "2012-09-30T20:11:01Z")
The number of view hits doesn’t matter a whole lot. IMO what matters is the number of articles written about it by a press distracted from what otherwise might be articles about messages the campaign _wanted_ to put out. If you google _Romney Mental Well Being_ you only find a hundred or so articles referencing the comment. In contrast, there were thousands of articles that referenced the “Stench” comments that Poliitico made up last week. None of them are good for a campaign running out of time to get its message out, bu this last one is a very small drop in the bucket compared to so many others. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/529 "2012-09-30T21:18:53Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Eh, you read her comment and you know what she meant. I read her comment and I knew what she meant. So I question that the phrasing was poor. Any reasonable person would understand her meaning. The republican national convention’s theme this year was based on a poor phrasing of something very un-controversial and factual to any reasonable person. It’s a mistake to leave yourself open to such soundbites. That said I hope Obama takes the high road and does not touch this soundbite. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/530 "2012-09-30T21:30:46Z")
If Obama takes the high road, Republicans will just accuse him of getting high. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/531 "2012-10-02T14:46:23Z")
Internal GOP focus groups are showing the 47% comment has damaged Romney’s candidacy: > [@](#): > > ccording to Goeas, Romney’s 47 percent comments definitely damaged him among blue-collar voters, particularly women, increasing his challenge with that demographic. “[It] raised the bar of what he has to prove to these voters — that he does have concern for them and more specifically that his plan is addressing the very problems that they’re feeling on a daily basis,” Goeas said. The men surveyed were less offended by the comments, and remain open to learning more about Romney and his plans during the debates. Here’s an interesting quote as to why Romney’s message of “Obama’s economy is the suxxors” isn’t playing as well as hoped: > [@](#): > > While voters still feel very negatively about the economy, they don’t think it’s all Obama’s fault. And for now at least, they trust the President more than they trust Romney. > **[These GOP Memos Show Exactly Why It Will Be So Hard For Mitt Romney To Win...](https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-pollsters-grim-outlook-romney-swing-state-voters-virginia-ohio-2012-10)** > > GOP pollsters express concern over Romney's prospects among swing state voters in Virginia and Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/532 "2012-10-03T00:54:41Z")
Paul Ryan begs to differ with Mitt’s assessment of the American public – [he puts the “shiftless parasite” to “real American” ratio at a more optimistic 30% to 70%](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/paul-ryan-30-percent-welfare-state_n_1933730.html). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/533 "2012-10-03T15:05:57Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I can’t wait for the followup ad: > > Interviewer: “What is your biggest worry should Mitt be elected to the White House?” > > Ann Romney: “I think my biggest concern obviously would just be for his mental well-being.” > > Voice over: “You know Mitt Romney best Ann - thanks for the warning.” > [@enomaj](#): > > I think Team Obama shouldn’t touch this with a 10 foot pole. Good point. Better to have it come from an anti-Romney SuperPAC. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/534 "2012-10-05T04:41:31Z")
Mitt has changed his mind again. It used to be “not elegantly stated.” and now it is “just completely wrong.” > **[Romney on '47 percent': I was 'completely wrong'](https://news.yahoo.com/romney-47-percent-completely-wrong-021604130--election.html)** > > Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has described his disparaging remarks about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes as "not elegantly stated." Now he's calling them "just completely wrong." ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/535 "2012-10-05T04:52:49Z")
I’m just going to start asking everybody “Which Mitch?” ---
**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, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/536 "2012-10-05T05:04:15Z")
Well, the _real_ one, of course! Duh. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/537 "2012-10-05T05:28:15Z")
Which Mitch? (This could be fun) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/538 "2012-10-05T05:42:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Which Mitch? > > (This could be fun) Mitch Miller. We need a President who can carry a tune. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/539 "2012-10-05T11:58:31Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I’m just going to start asking everybody “Which Mitch?” Rich Mittch that sonofabitch! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007/540 "2012-10-05T13:38:34Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Mitch Miller. We need a President who can carry a tune. nope, if you followed the bouncing ball, his lyrics never changed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romney-tapes-thoughts-as-to-how-theyll-affect-the-election/635007.md?page=28)