Chris Wallace Challenges Mitt Romney To Explain Bain Capital Picture Featuring Money-Stuffed Pockets
One of the biggest problems Mitt Romney has as a candidate is that to many voters he comes across as a calculating businessman who can’t empathize with the working classes. For the first time since March 2010, Romney appeared on a Sunday talk show, Fox News Sunday to disabuse the notion that he is that kind of person; as Chris Wallace phrased it, a “Gordon Gekko” stereotype the Obama campaign would want to paint him as.
Romney continued the standard conservative line accusing President Obama of attacking the rich and successful, touting his personal experience as being a builder of business for himself and others. He conceded that success did not come in all of his business ventures, but his aims to do so were noble ones. Wallace pointed to Staples as a victory for Romney’s business, but also noted that four out of the ten top investments his company made ended up going bankrupt.
Wallace then asked Romney to explain a photo taken of him and his business associates way back that depicts all of them with money literally coming out of their pockets. Romney explained the photo was taken at the closing of their first fund, and was meant to be celebratory. However, Romney did acknowledge that the photo was prime fodder for Democrats and the president to use against him.
If the Democrats end up using a Gordon Gekko attack on Romney, it might not be so successful. In the interview, Romney predicted Obama would make free enterprise the enemy of his campaign, and insisted “profit is good.” Note that statement in contrast with Gekko’s famous “greed is good.” It’s subtle distinctions like these that could make it harder than expected for Obama to paint Romney as a greedy business executive only concerned with the bottom line.
Watch the video below, courtesy of Fox News:
