Romney again

A damaging new video is the latest blight on the Republican candidate's campaign

Those expecting a close US presidential election may yet be proven right, but so far, Republican candidate Mitt Romney's worst enemy this campaign has been Mitt Romney. With an economic recovery that can best be termed anaemic, Romney should, at the very least, be neck-and-neck with President Barack Obama. Yet, as the campaigns head into home stretch, one gaffe after another has gifted Democrats material to bombard voters with.

The latest incident of Romney opening his mouth only to put his foot in it comes courtesy Mother Jones, which released a video recorded at a private, $50,000-a-plate fundraiser where Romney dismissed 47 per cent of Americans as entitlement junkies who would never vote for him because he could "never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives". In the same video, he also claimed that he would have a better shot at winning if his father had been "born of Mexican parents", suggesting that he believes identity, rather than policies, wins elections in the US. At the same time, Romney also insulted Palestinians, who he thinks have "no interest... in establishing peace".

These remarks come soon after Romney's ill-considered statement accusing Obama of sympathising with those who attacked US embassies in the Middle East and his gaffe-strewn three-nation tour in July. Now, as in the past, he doubled down on his comments: he said they were not "elegantly stated", but that he says the same thing in public. Romney's campaign may recover from this serious misstep — the election is still six weeks away. But the torrid September Romney has had in some ways reveals who he is. His repeated gaffes and refusal to take them back suggest a tone-deafness and lack of agility that ought to concern his party and its voters.

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