47 percent

Paul Ryan: Romney Was ‘Obviously Inarticulate’ in Video

On Tuesday night Paul Ryan was dispatched to several local TV affiliates to address the secret video in which Mitt Romney dismisses 47 percent of Americans. Apparently Ryan is sticking with Romney’s strategy of pretending he said something completely different. Ryan told KRNV in Reno, Nevada that his running mate was “obviously inarticulate” in the video — to the point that he said the exact opposite of what he meant. “The point we’re trying to make here is under the Obama economy government dependency is up and economic stagnation is up,” says Ryan. “And what we’re trying to achieve is getting people off of government dependency and back to a job that pays well, that gets them on the path to prosperity.” For some strange reason, rather than this positive message about helping the poor, the words that came out of Romney’s mouth were: “My job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

When asked if Romney regrets his comments, Ryan responded, “I think he would have said it differently, that’s for sure,” adding that the “poor economic policies of the Obama administration are actually making more people dependent on the government.” (And if the newly impoverished begin to see themselves as “victims” they may morph into Obama supporters. It’s a vicious cycle.) Ryan adds, “we are offering aspiration and growth as opposed to dependency and stagnation.” If Romney’s words sounded harsh, he was probably just trying to drive the 47 percent to aspire to be in the half of the country that he hasn’t written off.

Ryan: Romney ‘Obviously Inarticulate’ in Video