About that Romney Tape

Jimmy Carter's grandson was offended at some statements that Romney made about his grandfather so he convinced someone to release recorded sections of a private Romney fund-raiser. The big reveals from it are that:

• Romney believes that Obama has 47% of the vote locked up because of people who feel dependent on the government. The Obama campaign has made a similar calculation. Their "Life of Julia" pitch was aimed at these voters. Romney made the observation that you cannot attract people who do not pay income tax with an offer of tax cuts.
• Romney believes that the Palestinians do not really want peace. After a serious attempt at negotiation the Bush administration came to believe this also. It is hard to argue that a group that includes the destruction of Israel in its constitution is committed to peace. Obama came to office believing that if the Israelis only made some major concessions that the Palestinians would return to the peace talks. So far he has been disappointed.

While this has been compared to Obama's "bitter clingers" speech, it is not on the same level. Unlike Obama, Romney has stood behind his words although he admits that they could have been phrased better.

The press is trying to make a big deal out of the speech but the real test is if the Obama campaign finds a way to use it against him. If we do not see the equivalent of the "You didn't build this" ads coming from Obama then it is not an issue.