Michael Gerson
WASHINGTON -- The granting of Secret Service protection following Mitt Romney's decisive Florida victory did not prevent him from immediately shooting himself in the foot. "I'm not concerned about the very poor," he explained. "My campaign is focused on middle-income Americans."
It is problematic for a politician to declare any group of citizens beneath his attention -- either the bottom 1 percent or the top 1 percent. But those in the top 1 percent, at least, can fend for themselves.
There are few things more powerful in politics than the confirmation of a stereotype, which is Romney's main political risk. A wealthy man can prove that he empathizes with average people -- see the examples of aristocrats such as Teddy or Franklin Roosevelt. But Romney has yet to prove it. He could start by making the economic advancement of the very poor a central concern of his campaign.
Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelgerson/2012/02/03/something
WASHINGTON -- The granting of Secret Service protection following Mitt Romney's decisive Florida victory did not prevent him from immediately shooting himself in the foot. "I'm not concerned about the very poor," he explained. "My campaign is focused on middle-income Americans."
It is problematic for a politician to declare any group of citizens beneath his attention -- either the bottom 1 percent or the top 1 percent. But those in the top 1 percent, at least, can fend for themselves.
There are few things more powerful in politics than the confirmation of a stereotype, which is Romney's main political risk. A wealthy man can prove that he empathizes with average people -- see the examples of aristocrats such as Teddy or Franklin Roosevelt. But Romney has yet to prove it. He could start by making the economic advancement of the very poor a central concern of his campaign.
Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelgerson/2012/02/03/something
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