Mitt Romney, 47% | featured news

Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades argues in a memo today that the differences between President Obama and his Republican opponent have become sharper. It makes no mention of Romney's comments from a fundraising event in May in which the GOP presidential nominee is heard talking about 47% of Americans being dependent on the government.

Will those paying no federal income tax "vote for the president no matter what"? Probably not. A lot don't vote, and of those who do, many vote Republican.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mother Jones magazine released the complete version of the video that showed Mitt Romney speaking to donors at a May 17 fundraiser. The magazine had originally released clips from the video on Monday evening.

The good news for Mitt Romney: He remains within striking distance of President Obama. The bad news: His latest misstep could upend that.

That didn't take long. President Obama's re-election campaign has put out a video featuring voter criticism of Mitt Romney's closed door critique of Obama voters.

In his first extended interview since a controversy erupted over comments made to donors, Romney told Fox News that his intent was to highlight a "great divide" facing voters in the election.

Marc Leder, the co-chief executive of private equity firm Sun Capital Partners Inc who hosted a fundraiser in May in which Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized supporters of U.S. President Barack Obama, said on Tuesday he had supported people from both political parties.

The self-described Atlanta-based "oppo researcher" who helped broker the release of the secret video that has rocked the Romney campaign got a congratulatory email today from his famous grandfather — former President Jimmy Carter.

In a brief and hastily called news conference Monday just after 10 p.m., Mr. Romney acknowledged having made the blunt political and cultural assessment, saying it was “not elegantly stated,” but he stood by the substance of the remarks, insisting that he had made similar observations in public without generating controversy.

...He dismissed these Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, who don't assume responsibility for their lives, and who think government should take care of them.