How A Mitt In The Making Was Foiled: Fighting Romney's Beastly Bourgeois Babbity Elitism With The Wit And Wisdom Of Auntie Mame.

The "47%" Who Think They're Entitled To Food, Healthcare And Housing Might Take Note



Try as they might, the Romneys will never get past the image of being "beastly bourgeois babbity" snobs. No matter how many visits they make to Cosco for publicity purposes, such strategies will never make them into "one of us."

Yes, the "Cosco interview" was a debacle of condescension: what other reason would Ann Romney go to a Cosco for Mitt's shirts than publicity since the concept of them trying to save money to put in a Cayman Islands account is ridiculous. David Letterman debuted a new segment to his show called "The Romney Lies" with the interview, putting the Romney quest for commonality into a perspective the Right wishes would disappear.

The 47% Babbity Blunder

The latest debacle of condescension was the "47% ... think they're entitled to food, to healthcare, to housing, you name it," for which Romney did not actually apologize, instead giving another "trickle down" explanation. However, It was taken for what it was worth: contempt for humanity in stating that everyone does NOT deserve decent housing, food nor health care. And by cutting himself off from that 47% (which, by the way, was the same figure of previously uninsured Americans)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Already scrambling to steady a struggling campaign, Republican Mitt Romney confronted a new headache Monday after a video surfaced showing him telling wealthy donors that almost half of all Americans "believe they are victims" entitled to extensive government support. He added that as a candidate for the White House, "my job is not to worry about those people."

In a previous statement while on the primary trail, he said he didn't worry about the poor. Same thing. And his extremely narrow focus of economy-jobs-middle class has cut off almost all discussion of social issues and foreign policy. Campaign manager Matt Rhoades has made it very clear that in being a "Polkian President" Romney will ONLY concentrate on jobs: crime, terrorism, gay rights, women's rights, immigration, foreign policy, will be distinctly secondary.

The "47% Babbity Blunder" and Romney's background have had an effect on normally conservative low-income voters:

(Reuters) - Sheryl Harris, a voluble 52-year-old with a Virginia drawl, voted twice for George W. Bush. Raised Baptist, she is convinced -- despite all evidence to the contrary -- that President Barack Obama, a practicing Christian, is Muslim.

So in this year's presidential election, will she support Mitt Romney? Not a chance.

"Romney's going to help the upper class," said Harris, who earns $28,000 a year as activities director of a Lynchburg senior center. "He doesn't know everyday people, except maybe the person who cleans his house."

She'll vote for Obama, she said: "At least he wasn't brought up filthy rich."

The subject of Romney's upbringing has also brought up the subject of class warfare: forget the item about his persecution of a gay fellow classmate, the prep school persona lingered long after his graduation from Cranbrook.



The Philosophy of Auntie Mame

While "Life's A Banquet and Most Poor Sons Of Bitches Are Starving To Death" is ingrained on the American psyche as quintessential Mame, it is her open mind and and her open heart that place Mame in the forefront, leading the way to a better life. In essence, she's a bleeding heart liberal with a mind bursting with creative ways to disperse her presence, her philosophy, and even her money. Her extreme sophistication emanates without a hint of ego or self-satisfaction because it's to be shared and not merely spotlighted as so many snobs do at social gatherings.

At every turn, Auntie Mame redefines social mores to better suit others. She even redefines "family:" in the play, Patrick says "I don't want you airing your old flames and fairy airy friends from Fire Island in front of Gloria." And when Patrick reacts embarrassingly to the stream of people coming into the party for the Upsons, Mame says "Why this IS our family!"

"I won't let you marry him off to an Aryan from Darien with braces on her brains."

Speaking of family, while Ann Romney definitely has some brains, she has little knowledge of the "little people" and none of "you people." Cosco aside, Ann Romney appears clueless, thinking that a woman with two mammoth vacation homes and a horse trained for dressage can appear "down home" ... to anyone.
Pretense. It all boils down to pretense, something for which Mame has no use, especially from any member of her "family". Unlike Ann Romney, Mame wouldn't hide her money because she would have considered it inconsiderate to appear to be something you're not. Instead of hiding her money, she spent it on living ... and on everyone else. Establishing a home for refugee Jewish children was not just to get back at the Upsons, it was a statement as to the kind of person she was.

Bleeding Heart Liberal

One of the most telling things about Mame Dennis is her generosity: one scene has her plunking what seems to be her last dime into a Salvation Army bucket just after she's fired from Macy's. This could be in stark contrast to Romney's runnning mate, Paul Ryan, whose tax returns revealed less than average charitable giving - even after he stated that any social newtwork "slack" would be picked up by charities).



Foiling Mitt

It is perhaps a failure of the Obama campaign not to go the full Auntie Mame route in strategy: Barack Obama's innate sense of compromise has weathered poorly through the last four years, but it still lingers on. Mame would never have compromised on matters concerning the public's welfare, and during the campaign, she would have flaunted conventions with panache, bringing social issues to the fore instead of merely defending economic policies.

In this election, we need an Auntie Mame, to permanently foil Mitt Romney with his own elitism and to point the way for Obama's true focus.