Mitt Romney’s Daily Gaffe — The ‘Empathy’ Edition

This isn’t a recurring daily series, but it certainly could be! Jamil Smith puts it well:
That "empathy" bit from Romney is stupefying. It's as if he checked his watch, realizing he hadn't yet shot himself in the foot today.
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Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) September 26, 2012
Not sure what “empathy” bit Jamil’s referring to? Let me explain:
Mitt’s job for this week is to prove that he’s not an out-of-touch elitist robot and that he genuinely has empathy for struggling Americans. He’s all over the place today talking about how his “heart aches” for the jobless, etc… Never mind that 6 weeks out from election day seems a bit late in the game to prove you’re human, especially when you’re so damn awful at it:
In an interview with NBC News, Romney referenced an element of his record he almost never invokes on the campaign trail to answer a question about how he can better connect with Americans and prove he understands the lives and trials of middle class Americans.
“I think throughout this campaign as well, we talked about my record in Massachusetts, don’t forget — I got everybody in my state insured,” Romney told NBC’s Ron Allen in an interview before his rally here tonight. “One hundred percent of the kids in our state had health insurance. I don’t think there’s anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record.” (NBC News – emphasis mine)
Two things:
- This of course sets Romney up for another barrage of attacks from the likes of Ann Coulter and Fox News (never mention Romneycare!).
- I don’t know about you, but I can think of something that “shows more empathy and care about the people of this country” than Romney’s health reform in Massachusetts — say a President who expanded that same model to all the people of this country?
I can’t wait for tomorrow’s edition!

My understanding of the term “gaffe” is that it’s an embarrassing error. It seems that when Romney embarrasses himself and the Republican party is when he tells the truth. We need another word for what Romney does; the English language has somewhat in excess of a million words, and it appears we need one more.