Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney is the former Governor of Massachusetts and the 2012 Republican nominee for President.

REASON 43: It’s not my job to worry about those people.

There are forty-seven percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are forty-seven percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…

These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income taxes. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect... And so my job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

—Mitt Romney
 Boca Raton, Florida

Read the next essay →