Brit wit: Mitt, twit

Just before the 2012 Olympics, Mitt Romney went to England, expecting to be hailed as a hero based on his credentials running the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Then Mitt did what Mitt does. He stuck his foot in his mouth. It earned him savage scorn from the British press:

“Mitt the twit” has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it? Democrats might want to use that phrase, but in private. It would be considered crass, even with the snake-belly-low standards of American politics, to come out and say it in public.

Mitt also got stung by a rebuke from the mayor of London, and this derisive comment from The Telegraph:

I don’t think the British like Mitt. They don’t need much of an excuse. Having lived under a class system for their whole history, the British recognize upper class twits when they see them. But the British incident is a minor diversion during the grind of a long campaign and bitter fight, and will be soon forgotten. The American electorate has a very short collective memory.

The British criticisms are funny to me because I’m a Democrat, but realistically it doesn’t matter what the Brits think of Mitt the twit. They don’t vote for our president. Headlines in the British press won’t make a difference to the right-wing American electorate, many of whom have proved they would vote for any ideological Republican nitwit. Remember who was in and out of popularity as potential presidential candidates earlier this year: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and against such a field of the dregs of the American right-wing Mitt came out a “winner.” So, call him what you will, insult him all you want, but Mitt’s vote is safe with the hate-Obama crowd.

Mitt brings scorn on himself, and the Olympics goof is very minor in comparison. The example of him not releasing his tax returns brings rebuke, even from pundits of his own party. Mitt is a bumbler, albeit a wealthy bumbler, and public perception is he has something to hide. But he’d rather continue to hide it than come clean and shock the public with exactly how much he is hiding. A few months ago after a series of public gaffes, his wife, Ann, made a comment that she should do the talking and not him. Then recently Mrs. Romney fumbled when defending his decision not to release any more tax information, telling us “we’ve given all you people need to know.” That “you people” just didn’t go down very well. It sounded like a 2012 version of “you people stay in your place.” A serious flub, and now even Ann Romney has to zip her lip. But will it keep Republicans from voting for him? Don’t even entertain such a thought.

I believe that Mitt Romney could get caught slaughtering kittens and feeding them to the dog on the roof of his station wagon, and be forgiven by his base. Their hatred of Barack Obama would override any revulsion against Romney. In this world at this time, love for a candidate isn’t necessary. We’re all cynical. We know candidates have sold out, or are lying with every word out of their mouths, saying what their base wants to hear. Love isn’t the reason we vote. We just vote against the other guy, and the degree of our hatred for one candidate is the benchmark for supporting an opponent. To beat Obama they’ll even vote for a twit like Mitt.