Liberals are outraged, OUTRAGED I tell you, because Mitt Romney told the truth. Obama supporters are people that hold the same ideology that Obama holds, that government should take care of citizens from cradle-to-grave without them having to learn personal responsibility.
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent 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…“And I mean the president starts off with 48, 49 … he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. So he’ll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that’s what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to convince the five to ten percent in the center that are independents that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not.”
Those that do not support Obama, that believe in personal responsibility and that government already does too much (54 percent), is too big and spends money America doesn't have, are those that "bitterly cling" to their "guns and religion."
Flashback Obama 2008:
Huffpo's Mayhill Fowler has more from Obama's remarks at a San Francisco fundraiser Sunday, and they include an attempt to explain the resentment in small-town Pennsylvania that won't be appreciated by some of the people whose votes Obama's seeking:
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
I'll take the guns and religion over the complete dependence on government to do everything, any day of the week.
Thank you, Mitt, for finally saying it.
[Update] Romney stands by his statement. As well he should.
[Update] Followup post: Liberals Hand Romney The Election If He Plays It Right: The 62 Percent