Are we counting or not nillhilly?
Nah, that punk disappears like cockroaches when the light comes on when he's made a fool of for the umpteenth time. Towards your point about misstatements, the Righty Whack Jobs slobber over railroad statement or the "57 states" comment. The guy graduated from two Ivy League schools, cum laude in one of them, so I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that he knows that there are only 50 states(particularly since he's from the one that has trumpeted his entire life that they are the 50th, and final one). Same thing with the railroads. But, are the following clearly slips of the tongue? MAYBE # 7, I'm not sure ANY of them are.
1. "I'm also unemployed" June 16, 2011
A lesser-known Mitt-ism. Trying to commiserate. But not really.
Confusing unemployment with being independently wealthy. Not great when unemployment is still at stratospheric levels. Not the most damaging Mitt-ism. We rate this one "tone deaf", 2 stars.
2. "Corporations are people, my friend" August 11, 2011
Damaging, yes. Revealing, definitely. Yes, corporate profits all make their way, in one fashion or another, to old-fashioned living, breathing people. And corporations are legal persons. But c'mon. Corporations aren't people. They're corporations. This Mitt-ism gets a 5 star for iconic, memorable value. And it even
comes with video.
3. "I'm running for office for Pete's sake, we can't have illegals" October 18, 2011
Like the Velvet Underground until the mid-1980s, a hidden classic only well known to specialists and aficionados. Back in the early days of the campaign when Romney was still making his anti-immigration bones with Rick Perry, he slipped into a classically candid
Mitt moment when he remembered canning the firm who had illegal aliens working the ground of his property. Fine, use illegals Romney seemed to say. But, Dear God, man, I'm running for office! You know how this works, man!
Destined to remain a cult favorite and never catch on with the masses, it was still deeply revealing. A totally fair hit. We rate it 3 stars.
4. "I'll tell you what, ten-thousand bucks? $10,000 bet?" December 10, 2011
You ever
made a $10,000 bet? Neither have we.
Mitt got hit pretty hard for this one at the time because it came during the height of the Newt surge when people thought Gingrich might actually bring Romney down. Maybe $10,000 was just a taunt because Mitt knew he couldn't lose. And even Rick Perry, who has somehow made a bundle during his tenure in office, could manage a $10,000 bet.
So reasonably revealing and a genuine Mitt-ism. But not one of the classics. We rate it a 1.5 stars.
5. "I like being able to fire people"
January 9, 2012
The Mitt-ism that proves the rule. The words purely on their own are about as
toxic as you can imagine – especially for Mitt Romney, whose business model as a private equity guy actually is about firing people. Still, Romney was talking about being able to choose or can health care insurers – something a lot of Americans would like to be able to do. Somehow he just stumbled into saying it in the worst possible way. Maybe habits just die hard. Or maybe firing people is fun after all.
Because it clearly wasn't what he meant and thus it's not clearly a cluelessly candid statement of actual belief, it doesn't qualify as a bona-fide Mitt-ism. We rate it 1 stars.
6. "There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip" January 8, 2012
We guess his heart was in the right place. But c'mon, Mitt. Let's just agree that in the realm of your professional life you're talented, lucky and basically things have been wall-to-wall awesome. You've never had to worry about getting a pink slip. And if you did, the severance package would probably be more than most people make in a lifetime. Now let's talk about abolishing Obamacare and privatizing unemployment insurance.
This is a classic in the subcategory of Mitt-ism: the
hapless and totally uncredible attempt to identify with the problems of average folk. We rate it 3.5 stars.
7. "It's for the great middle class – the 80 to 90 percent of us in this country" September 21, 2011
Mitt Romney's net worth is not public knowledge – and as he's stated several times, it won't be public
knowledge for as long as he can help it.
But America knows he's rich. Really rich. Rich enough to be well beyond the 80 or 90 percent of "us" in the country.
Sure, he was
talking about the country as a whole, but it came off as crass, and wholly laughable. A solid 2.5 stars.
8. "Don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom." October 17, 2011
As a solution to the housing crisis, Mitt's policy frankness wasn't accidentally revealing or a mistake. A politically unpopular policy statement — even when phrased in an especially tone deaf way — doesn't meet the rigorous standards for a Mitt-ism. 0 stars.
9)"I come from the street." Really? What street was THAT?
10)"I don't think I've seen that ad(the one where he points out that Newt called Spanish the "language of the ghetto," whereupon they showed that he approved it in halting, spoon fed Spanish)."
11) I don't care about poor people. Not exactly a news flash, but that he would express in that way...I guess that's not becoming a surprise, either. For a very successful, Ivy league educated guy, he's not very good at thinking on his feet, and as the grind of the campaign increases and he's questioned by more and more non sympathetic media members, I shudder to think what will come out of his mouth.
When this nitwit finally gets the nomination, and he will, the above statements-not to mention his massive flip flopping-are going to be brought up again, and again, and again, and he's already shown with those statements and others that he isn't quick on his feet, nor does he respond well to persistent, embarrassing questions. Republicans are already acting towards him like a guy who meets his rich father's new bride who is younger than her stepson, wait till the Democrats and independents get a chance to express THEIR views, lol...
