New Scrutiny for Romney on Mideast Comments
by CAROL E. LEE and SIOBHAN HUGHES and SARA MURRAY, online.wsj.comSeptember 18th 2012 2:30 AM
The Romney campaign faced fresh scrutiny Tuesday as more video surfaced from a private fundraiser, this one showing the Republican presidential nominee saying he sees no resolution to the Middle East peace process.
The comments added to an already growing firestorm over his remarks during the same fundraiser that nearly half of Americans depend on government and see themselves as "victims."
Mitt Romney, who has tried in recent days to return voter attention to his economic agenda, has been embroiled in controversy since video was posted Monday on the website of Mother Jones magazine. It showed him telling donors at a private fundraiser that most of President Barack Obama's supporters, 47% of Americans, "pay no income tax" and "believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
In the video clip Mother Jones posted Tuesday morning, Mr. Romney said Palestinians have "no interest whatsoever in establishing peace" and that he's likely to "kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it."
On Monday night, Mr. Romney held a news conference to say his comments about 47% of Americans were "not elegantly stated" but that he stood by them.
In that video clip, Mr. Romney, responding to a question about his election strategy, said his "job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
At the news conference, Mr. Romney said he believes Americans who pay no taxes or receive government benefits would be less likely to support his campaign because his message of cutting taxes and shrinking the size of government wouldn't resonate with them. "I'm not likely to draw them into my campaign," he said.
The Republican nominee had fundraising events and interviews scheduled for later Tuesday.
The Obama campaign on Tuesday released a Web video criticizing the remarks, and White House press secretary Jay Carney weighed in with a measured swipe at the Republican nominee.
"When you're president of the United States, you are president of all the people, not just the people who voted for you," Mr. Carney told reporters Tuesday in response to questions about Mr. Romney's remarks. "And I think the way you have to approach the job is with a keen understanding that you're out there fighting for every American."
Mr. Carney's reaction reflects a desire at the White House to let the firestorm play out without the president briskly fanning the flames. Mr. Obama headed to New York City Tuesday afternoon for campaign fundraisers and to tape an interview for "The Late Show With David Letterman."
The Obama campaign, on the other hand, has responded more vigorously to criticize Mr. Romney's comments and disseminate talking points to Democrats to keep the issue alive.
The campaign's 90-second Web video shows people watching Mr. Romney's comments on an iPad and captures their reactions. "I actually felt sick to my stomach," one woman says.
On the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Mr. Carney said Mr. Obama is committed to a two-state solution and challenged what kind of leader Mr. Romney would be on the issue if elected president.
"It is simply the wrong approach to say we can't do anything about it so we'll just kick it down the field," Mr. Carney said. "That is the opposite of leadership."
In response, Romney spokesman Ryan Williams tried to turn the conversation to the economy. "At every turn, as the economic pain Americans feel increases, the president has proposed failed policies that have led to more and more government, and greater and greater debt," he said in a statement. "Mitt Romney's plan for a stronger middle class will create 12 million new jobs and move Americans from government dependency and into greater prosperity."
Mr. Romney's comments have conjured up memories of remarks Mr. Obama made as a candidate during the 2008 campaign that some voters are "bitter" and cling to "guns and religion."
Mr. Carney rejected comparisons, saying Mr. Obama "never said he would not worry about" 47% of Americans, Mr. Carney said.
In the video clip released Monday, Mr. Romney was apparently drawing on the fact that many American households pay no federal income tax—a group that includes about 46% of American households in 2011, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute.
Some of those people receive tax benefits that have been championed by both parties, such as credits for children, which wipe out their tax burdens.
Mr. Romney's comments echoed ideas he has laid out elsewhere as central to his candidacy: that the federal government spends too much money and has unmoored the country from the principles of free enterprise and hard work.
The incident was reminiscent of Mr. Obama's remarks this summer—made famous by his awkward "you didn't build that" comment—that were interpreted by Republicans as a disparagement of entrepreneurship. Democrats said the president meant only that government spending on infrastructure, education and other programs is important to business owners.
In other contexts, the candidates have said these competing ideas go to the heart of the election, with Mr. Obama arguing for a government role in the economy and Mr. Romney saying government is too intrusive.
Mr. Carney said he doesn't know if Mr. Obama has seen the video of Mr. Romney's comments but that the president is aware of them.
Write to Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com, Sara Murray at sara.murray@wsj.com and Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com
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