The Obama campaign was following the old playbook of giving a lot of stuff to groups that they hoped they could get to vote for them and be motivated to go out to the polls, specifically the African American community, the Hispanic community and young people. In each case they were very generous in what they gave to those groups.
. . .The president's campaign focused on giving targeted groups a big gift — so he made a big effort on small things. Those small things, by the way, add up to trillions of dollars.
. . . I am very sorry that we didn't win. I know that you expected to win. We expected to win.... It was very close, but close doesn't count in this business.
~ Romney in conference call to "hundreds of donors" via LA Times
The surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout especially in urban areas, which gave President Obama the big margin to win this race.
~ Ex-VP Candidate Paul Ryan
Just an odd, silly, stupid thing to say.
~ Ex-RNC Chairman, Michael Steele on MSNBC
No, I think that’s absolutely wrong. Two points on that: One, we have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100 percent of the votes, not 53 percent. We need to go after every single vote.
And, secondly, we need to continue to show how our policies help every voter out there achieve the American Dream, which is to be in the middle class, which is to be able to give their children an opportunity to be able to get a great education. … So, I absolutely reject that notion, that description. I think that’s absolutely wrong.
~ Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, breaking off with Romney/Ryan, probably to boost his own chances of running for President in 2016
Updates:
The Republican Party is going to fight for every single vote. That means the 47 percent and the 53 percent…We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything. We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys.
~ Gov. Bobby Jindal
This is completely unhelpful. This is not where the Republican Party needs to go. If you want voters to like you, the first thing you've got to do is like them first.
~ Gov. Bobby Jindal on CNN
I don't want to rebut him point by point. I would just say to you, I don't believe that we have millions and millions of people in this country that don't want to work. I'm not saying that's what he said. I think we have millions of people in this country that are out of work and are dependent on the government because they can't find a job.
~ Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Romney's remarks
I don’t agree with the comments. I think the campaign is over and what the voters are looking for us to do is to accept their votes and then go forward.
~ Senator Kelly Ayotte R-NH on MSNBC
Still looking at America through that 47% prism, Mitt tells donors the takers did him in.lat.ms/TIkWXZ
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 14, 2012
Romney to big donors: I fell short because Obama bribed liberal special interests with expensive gifts thebea.st/U1xewA #really
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 15, 2012
Romney riff on Obama "gifts" to minorities explains pretty much everything about how he has approached politics over the years & why he lost
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) November 15, 2012
Now we know why Romney ran for president. He wanted to de-gift America.
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) November 15, 2012
Between Romney's "gifts" & Paul Ryan's "urban" comments I have a feeling the GOP won't be winning over minority voters anytime soon #fail
— Jesse LaGreca (@JesseLaGreca) November 15, 2012
Let's be fair: Romney and Ryan do have a mandate to make terrible excuses. nationalmemo.com/paul-ryan-blam…
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) November 15, 2012
The losing GOP presidential candidate unloaded a cartful of sour grapes on his top donors Wednesday, saying President Obama won because he handed out “big gifts” to blacks, Hispanics and young voters.
~ New York Daily News
Romney Still Hates 47% of America
I think the latest Romney donor remarks ought to put to rest the debate about his sincerity. When the 47 percent remarks emerged, I argued that it was the real Romney speaking. Some moderate Republicans suggested he was merely pandering to people whose donations he badly needed. I never thought this made much sense — surely Romney had ways of relating to wealthy Republicans without launching an extended analysis he didn't believe — but the latest version of essentially the same riff ought to put that debate to rest. He's never running again. He doesn't need these people. The real Romney is indeed a sneering plutocrat.
~ Jonathan Chait on New York Mag
Conservatives have constructed a myth that says certain groups—blacks, Hispanics, women, young people—vote Democratic because they’re stupid, because they’re lazy, and because they can be purchased with trinkets and baubles. It’d be one thing if they kept that myth a secret, but instead they shout it from the rooftops. Then, when it’s over, they wonder why those people voted Democratic again.
~ Alex Koppelman on The New Yorker
I think African-Americans, Latinos, and young people would love to take credit for defeating Mitt Romney. What really is remarkable here is that Romney appears to think that the sectors of society that supported Obama are somehow illegitimate; that responding to their needs (unlike the needs of, say, millionaire bankers) is a perversion of the political process.
Imagine voting not only to protect the social and political gains made in your interest, but also to prevent those who pledged to erode those gains from taking office! How uppity!
~ Jamil Smith on MSNBC
Mitt Romney, exit stage right. A little quicker, please …
So let me get this straight: When Romney, in the first debate, promised a tax cut to the middle class, he wasn’t promising them a gift? When he wooed his backers on Wall Street by telling them that he would repeal Dodd Frank, abolish the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and lower corporate taxes, that wasn’t promising a gift?
When he went to Viriginia to promise to build even more nuclear-powered submarines that just happened to be built right there in Virginia, that wasn’t a gift? When he went to coal country to promise to weaken environmental regulations that protect the air we breathe, that wasn’t a gift? When he traveled to Florida to promise to replace $716 billion in Medicare funding allegedly cut by the Obama administration, that wasn’t a gift?
Or is it only a “gift” when offered to poor African Americans or Hispanic Americans?
All in all, it is quite something to see complaints about pandering from a man who wafted in the political breeze with all the gravity of a dandelion seed.
~ Jay Bookman on Atlanta Journal Constitution
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