September 19, 2012 04:58 PM UTC

Ann Romney: "Mitt Has Stopped Disdaining The Poor"

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Buzzfeed relays an interesting development regarding this interview:

The saddest rapid response… The Romney campaign just uploaded a video with the title “Ann Romney to FOX31: Mitt Doesn’t Disdain the Poor.” UPDATE: Apparently the campaign has removed the video from its official account…

—–

FOX 31’s Eli Stokols:

Ann Romney, the wife of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, spoke exclusively Tuesday with FOX31 Denver about her husband’s controversial comments in a video that surfaced Monday characterizing nearly half of the country as Obama supporters who don’t pay taxes and live off the government.

“I’ve been on, obviously, on the trail a long time with Mitt and if you listen to the whole context of what Mitt talks about, he is talking about what’s happening right now in America and how more and more people are falling into poverty,” Ann Romney told FOX31 Denver.

“He wants to make sure to bring better opportunities for everyone. I know the guy, I know him really well, I know he cares. That’s why he’s running. It’s unfortunate when something gets misinterpreted like this, when it gets taken out of context…”

We’ve said before that we really do view Ann Romney as Mitt Romney’s campaign’s best asset–especially when the time comes, as it has repeatedly this election season, to humanize a candidate who consistently underperforms in the area of likability.

The problem, of course, is that Ann Romney’s defense contradicts what Mitt Romney actually said in the now-infamous “47%” videos. There’s no context to soften the meaning of the words “my job is is not to worry about those people.” You can’t make “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives” sound compassionate. You can’t change Romney flatly stating that 47% of Americans “believe that they are victims, believe the government has a responsibility to care for them” into a less contemptuous statement.

Bottom line: of course Ann Romney comes out for damage control. Much like the excellent quality lifeboats on the Titanic, she’s the best defense the campaign has left.