The Hill…
Romney campaign deals with fallout from '47 percent dependent' leaked video
By Justin Sink
09/18/12  

Mitt Romney’s campaign dealt with a new distraction Tuesday after an undercover video surfaced of him telling a group of fundraisers that “47 percent” of voters are “dependent on government.” 

The video, posted by liberal magazine Mother Jones, was taken on May 17 at a fundraiser hosted by Marc Leder, co-CEO of the private equity firm Sun Capital Partners Inc. 

It shows the GOP presidential nominee telling the small group of fundraisers that 47 percent of the nation is firmly with Obama. He also states that these voters see themselves as “victims” and that his job as a candidate is not to worry about them and instead focus on independent voters who could swing the election. 

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,” Romney states. “All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you name it.” 

Romney says his "job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” 

Later Monday, Romney held an impromptu press conference where he stuck by his message but said it was “not elegantly stated” and spoken “off the cuff.” 

He told reporters he was talking about campaign strategy, “not his vision for the country.” Romney stood by the spirit of his comments, saying they represented “the same message I give to people” in public. 

Democrats quickly seized on the video, which dominated morning talk shows on Tuesday, to augment their argument that Romney is out of touch… 

Read the rest of the article at The Hill