Mitt Romney’s Pandering to the Poor

Mitt Romney’s delivered the mother of all cringe-worthy sound bytes on CNN this morning when he said, “I’m not concerned about the very poor.”

While it was, from a communications and political perspective, a horrible thing to say I think most who watch the interview in context understands what he means. It’s still a horrible gaffe though as he alienates voters rather than attracts them. To recover he slips into pander zone and risks alienating his base by saying, “I’m for raising the minimum wage.”

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney renewed his support Wednesday for automatic increases in the federal minimum wage to keep pace with inflation, a position sharply at odds with traditional GOP business allies, conservatives and the party’s senior lawmakers.

“I haven’t changed my thoughts on that,” the former Massachusetts governor told reporters aboard his chartered campaign plane, referring to a stand he has held for a decade.

He did not say if he would ask Congress to approve the change if he wins the White House this fall.

Congress first enacted federal minimum wage legislation in 1938 and has raised it sporadically in the years since. The last increase, approved in 2007, took effect in three installments and reached $7.25 an hour for covered workers effective July 24, 2009.

Ok, if he held this for the last 10 years or so why did he veto a minimum wage increase as Governor of Massachusetts in 2006?

But in 2006 Romney vetoed an increase in Massachusetts’s minimum wage, arguing that a salary hike would cause a loss of jobs. The last federal increase, which passed in 2007, implemented gradual increases until 2009, when the minimum wage hit its current rate of $7.25 an hour.

Not to mention he’s touting a plan that President Obama campaigned on in 2008. Another example of Romney providing a poor contrast in a general election campaign. Don’t worry though, no matter what Mitt Romney has to say one can be sure that Ann Coulter will find a way to defend it.

Be sure to check out the Memeorandum thread on this.

Photo by Dave Davidson – Prezography.com