Romney's unpleasant visit with the NAACP [View all]

[ProSense]

Romney's unpleasant visit with the NAACP

By Steve Benen

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So, when Mitt Romney agreed to speak this morning, it was hardly a foregone conclusion that his remarks would go over poorly. Sure, he antagonized the NAACP in Massachusetts during his one term as governor. And sure, Romney's right-wing policy agenda would disproportionately hurt African Americans. And sure, Romney's party is engaged in a systematic effort to prevent African-American voters from participating in the 2012 elections.

But Romney nevertheless could have stressed areas of agreement and made his case for why his far-right proposals would help the African-American community. Instead, the Republican chose a different path.

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I've been following NAACP conventions for quite a while now, and I can't recall ever hearing such a lengthy, sustained booing. (The rest of the speech received polite applause, but the booing was obviously the most notable development of the morning.)

The wonk in me feels compelled to mention that Romney's argument wasn't even coherent on its face -- he said he wants to kill the Affordable Care Act to reduce the deficit, which is absurd since killing the Affordable Care Act would increase the deficit.

- more -

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/11/12683715-romneys-unpleasant-visit-with-the-naacp

Romney Supports Voter ID Laws That Could Disenfranchise 25% Of African Americans
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/07/11/514412/romney-supports-voter-id-laws-that-could-disenfranchise-25-of-african-americans/

Romney believes he's just misunderstood, see: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002930373