David Limbaugh Column: Mitt Video's an Opportunity, Not a Scandal

So what about the Democrats' would-be tempest about Mitt Romney's alleged 47 percent gaffe? Is there any "there" there?

Mitt's statement was made at a private fundraiser, where he was trying to explain that his message of reducing taxes would obviously not resonate with the 47 percent of Americans who are not paying income taxes. It's purely logical; you aren't going to entice those who aren't paying taxes with promises of lower taxes.

The statement was hardly shocking or unique. For years, we've heard the axiom that once the body politic of any nation freely votes itself money from the public trough, the nation's days are numbered. In fact, the adage is so common we don't know for sure where it originated. I've heard it attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, Thomas Jefferson and others.

All of which is to recognize that it is simply common sense that once a majority uses the coercive power of government to enrich itself at the expense of the minority, freedom is on life support.

Many believe that this is precisely the direction we're headed as the welfare state metastasizes. They feel impotent and are horrified as they watch the most reckless and selfish generation of politicians in history spend our children and grandchildren into bankruptcy.

Obama and his fellow liberal co-conspirators timed the release of the video to counter Obama's week from hell in foreign policy and his abysmal jobs numbers from the week before. Their intention was to distract from Obama's failures but also to validate their malicious premise that Romney and conservatives are out-of-touch elitists who lack compassion and support only the rich.

Now they're also using it to deflect attention from having been caught in a lie about another video, which they are still deceitfully claiming caused spontaneous riots in Libya and Egypt that we now know were preplanned, coordinated terrorist attacks. It is this administration's despicable practice to place Obama's own political fortunes above our national security interests.

This liberal meme that conservatives don't care — because they oppose a leviathan state that confiscates and redistributes wealth and destroys equal opportunity and the American dream — is getting old. America itself and its freedom tradition are a testament to conservative principles, especially the commitment to freedom. America has been the most prosperous nation ever in large part because it was established in liberty, free enterprise, entrepreneurship, equal opportunity and equal protection under the laws — not in socialism.

Liberals assail conservatives for supposedly not caring, but it is liberal policies that are destroying America's prosperity and particularly harming the very people Obama professes to care about the most — minorities and lower-income groups. But he's doing enormous damage to the middle class, as well, which is not mitigated by his phony protests of caring more. A party that is destroying the prosperity of future generations, is keeping minorities trapped in inferior inner-city schools and is blocking protection to the innocent unborn is hardly in a position to lecture us on compassion.

Liberals whine that Mitt's "insensitive" statement hurt people's feelings. Meanwhile, Obama's policies have destroyed their pocketbooks.

My quibbles with Romney's comments are that the percentage of people not paying income taxes is closer to 49.5, and many in that group haven't given up and are striving toward upward mobility. Some are there because of legitimate deductions or earned benefits. And let's not fool ourselves; Obama has plenty of support among the top income earners himself — and not just in Hollywood. It's a myth that the rich are all Republicans.

What concerned me the most, though, was Mitt's statement that his main task is to reach that 10 percent in the middle. I know this is conventional wisdom among political strategists, but I believe that this election will turn more on voter intensity than on swaying this inscrutable group of so-called centrists.

As such, like others, I see this as an opportunity for Mitt to make this a defining moment to contrast his policies with Obama's promises of indefinite malaise. He must articulate conservative principles unapologetically and inspire voters with the uplifting message that pro-growth policies benefit all income groups as history has shown. He must make clear that he is wooing, rather than writing off, lower-income groups — stressing that he is determined to greatly shrink the 49 percent as people use their God-given liberty to climb the ladder toward prosperity.

The Democrats' desperate effort to change the channel from the reality show featuring Obama's America in decline is backfiring because Romney, to his enormous credit, is refusing to take the bait and is standing his ground.

Mitt must seize this moment to reject the advice of those surrounding him who are forever cautioning restraint and admonishing him to play it safe.

Please, Mr. Romney, take your foot off the brake and the gloves off your hands and make your case with passion. That's how you'll ensure your victory — and America's.

David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book, "The Great Destroyer," reached No. 2 on the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction. Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.