[spreedom]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politic...&dlvrit=206567

Romney: Obama voters 'believe they are victims'

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney told a group of donors in a secretly taped video that 47% of Americans will vote for President Obama because they are "dependent upon government" and "believe that they are victims."

The video was obtained by the magazine Mother Jones, which said it came from a source who shot the video at a campaign fundraiser earlier this year. The magazine obscured all but Romney's head in the video, and did not say when or where it was shot.

In response to a question from a donor, the GOP presidential nominee appeared to write off half of the electorate:

"There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47% 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. ...

"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 that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina called the comments "shocking."

"It's hard to serve as president for all Americans when you've disdainfully written off half the nation," Messina said in a statement.

The Romney campaign would not address the video directly, but said the former Massachusetts governor "wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy."

"As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work," said Romney communications director Gail Gitcho.