The Latest from the Worst Campaign in Worstville

Today, the Romney campaign released this ad, in which Mitt Romney speaks directly into the camera, making his appeal to voters as a compassionate conservative, or whatever pretending to give a fuck about the 99% is getting called these days:

Too many Americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. Too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas. More Americans are living in poverty than when President Obama took office, and 15 million more are on food stamps.

President Obama and I both care about poor and middle class families. The difference is: My policies will make things better for them.

We shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare; we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job.

My plan will create 12 million new jobs over the next four years, helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle class.

I'm Mitt Romeny, and I approve this message—because we can't afford another four years like the last four years.

Okay, obviously everything about this is undiluted garbage, but I don't have time to detail in all the ways this one-minute video of the Republican candidate for the US presidency is dishonest, contemptible rubbish, because I'm too busy measuring compassion by how many people are on welfare, which is for sure something real people definitely do.

I will just point out two quick things:

1. The title of this video is "Too Many Americans." Obviously, Team Romney meant for us to extrapolate that "too many Americans" are suffering under the nightmare rule of the despot Obama, but it reads more like Mitt Romney's proposal to deal with all those goddamn government moochers: "Too many Americans! Let's get rid of some of 'em!"

2. Note that Mitt Romney says his policies "will make things better for them." For them. Those people, who are poor and middle class. Which sort of raises the (rhetorical) question: Just whom, exactly, is this video for? Garance Franke-Ruta observes:

Mitt Romney keeps talking about the people whose votes he needs as "them."

In the 47 percent video, it was "those people."

"I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives," Romney said.

...The problem with Romney's campaign is not just a secret video, or media- and PAC-hyped candidate gaffes. It's an approach to talking to and about people in a way that is othering, rather than empathetic -- so much so that in direct appeal to middle-class voters, Romney doesn't think to say (or, rather, no one on his campaign thinks to have him say), "The difference is my policies will make things better for you."

There aren't enough derisive snorts in the world for this guy.