‘47 percent’ lives on in results

 

U.S. Sen.-elect Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has declared that Mitt Romney’s infamous “47 percent” remarks – which he made to campaign donors in Florida this past spring – was the major reason he lost the presidential race to Barack Obama.

That statement, Cruz said, hurt him more with Hispanic voters than his “self-deportation” view on illegal immigration. So many gaffes, it’s becoming hard to keep track of which ones hurt more than others.

Romney told the fat cats that 47 percent of American voters would favor President Obama no matter what. Why? Because, he said, those folks are on government assistance and feel “entitled” to any help the government should provide them. Romney said there was nothing he could say to those folks to persuade them to vote for him.

But there’s an interesting symmetry between that remark and the results of the election.

Romney’s share of the popular vote, with the late ballots still being counted, has dipped to – are you ready? – to slightly more than 47 percent. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ 

The latest unofficial total shows Obama with 51 percent, Romney with 47. Romney’s percentage of the total doesn’t figure to drop below 47 when all the ballots are counted.

What does this mean? Probably nothing other than the symbolism it represents. Perhaps it will haunt the Republican nominee forever and remind him of how badly stated opinions have this way of leaving indelible marks.