Mitt Romney and Mother Jones

When Mother Jones pulled a dirty trick on Mitt Romney and secretly taped him addressing a fund-raising event at the Palm Beach home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder, Americans got to see and hear what he really thought about people who voted for Obama. Many believe it cost him the election.

Marc Leder

Mother Jones got its name from Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, a woman who fought for the underdog and was once called "the most dangerous woman in America."  According to their spiel, Mother Jones is a magazine that will investigate anything, including corporations, and as a non-profit organization, they survive on subscriptions, donations and ads for both the magazine and their website.  They also point out that they are completely independent, not beholden to any person or conglomerate.


Some say Mother Jones is a dangerous threat to the American way of life while others believe it's about time the average Joe knew what his politicians were really thinking.


On the 17th September last year Romney said "There are 47 per cent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right, there are 47 per cent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe 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 it's an entitlement and the government should give it to them, and they will vote for the president no matter what..... these are people who pay no income tax.  ....My job is not to worry about those people, I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."


Shortly after the video was released he said on Fox News "Well, clearly in a campaign, with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right.  In this case I said something that's just completely wrong.  And I absolutely believe however, that my life has shown that I care about 100 per cent and that's been demonstrated throughout my life.  And this campaign is about the 100 per cent."

The 12th Amendment requires the electors chosen by the states to meet and vote for the President and Vice President and their certified rally sheets must be counted in Washington.


Today, Congress formally certified something we already knew, that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden won the November election with 332 electoral votes, well ahead of the 270 required.  Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan won 206 votes.