Though it's hard to get a accurate number, Mitt Romney has an estimated new worth of over 200 million. The median net worth for individuals in America is about 120,000, but this time ol' Mitt hasn't offended the 'average American'. Instead, he has made a mistake that will either cost him now, or much likely later. He has offended the poor, or least the pundits claim he has.
At a town hall meeting, Romney made a statement to help the clueless voters understand the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. The latter, he said, is designed to help the poor. He didn't say less fortunate, disabled, struggling or lower income families. He said poor, and in a tone that seemed to reference an outside group that wasn't at his speech.
Now, in reality, Medicaid primarily helps the poor. In politically correct terms, it supplements insurance incomes, but goodness an average American can't understand what that means. A casual statement like Romney's is an accurate way to differentiate between multiple government aide programs, however, it is likely to be misconstrued by his political opponents in the primaries, and possibly the general election.
Most primary republican voters aren't from lower income families, and many of them label the Medicaide program already as assistance that borders too closely to socialism. Furthermore, the people already supporting Romney aren't likely to be all of sudden turned off by his elitist rich guy mannerisms. If this comment comes back to hurt him, it will be when Obama rallies his troops again, and Democrats can certaintly use this to their advantage with a statement like: "this out of touch conservative who doesn't care if everybody who doesn't make a million dollars dies in the street."
In conclusion, yes Romney is out of touch, no this comment isn't offensive if you're not too sensitive. But still be prepared to hear about it on 24 hour news networks.
Source: John King, 12/16/2011
Now, besides this dismal position, a more lingering problem faces Gingrich. The economic troubles and conservative backlash, plus the 2008 elections, have given many Republicans the hope that Obama can be voted out of office. However, while the fundamental caucus voters have been drawn to Gingrich's hearty rhetoric, other strategists note that his speeches will drive away the moderates in the country. Not to mention, enough previous employees and colleagues have described him as confrontational as much with his allies and his enemies. In addition, enough average voters remember his ethics trial and marital infidelites from back in the nineties, and aren't ready to switch back from the forward motion of recent elections.
