This is not meant as an "even David Brooks" diary. Because it is not remarkable that Brooks, writing as an intellectual from the noblesse oblige wing of the conservative movement, sees that Romney's 47 percent video is heartless, cruel, and political disaster.
The final thing the comment suggests is that Romney knows nothing about ambition and motivation. The formula he sketches is this: People who are forced to make it on their own have drive. People who receive benefits have dependency.[…]Romney’s comment is a country-club fantasy. It’s what self-satisfied millionaires say to each other. It reinforces every negative view people have about Romney.
If Romney were a self-made man, his views would be obnoxious, but at least they would have arisen from his own experience. Most successful Americans, however, did not start with Romney's multi-million patrimony. It seems that Romney has truly confused eating pasta in college with graduating tens of thousands of dollars in debt, if you can afford college at all.
There's a great lowlight reel out there, with today's leak as the main attraction and Mittster telling graduates to just borrow $20K or $30K from the Bank of Mom and Dad to start out as entrepreneurs as the trailer.
Instead of asking why Romney is running such a bad campaign, maybe Brooks should look in the mirror and ask why today's Republican Party runs candidates who want to tear the wings off flies.