Plastic Man faking it in Michigan
Mitt “The Plastic Man” Romney set up a photo op with a 51-year-old single mother from Michigan who recently lost her job and health insurance. So there they are, seated together at her kitchen table, with Plastic Man looking engaged and full of empathy – the only problem
was the whole thing was a set up. The campaign invited the media into this woman’s home, but never told anyone she was the mother of a paid Romney staffer. Aside from being uniquely disingenuous, it speaks to just how desperate the Romney campaign must be getting. They really couldn’t find another supporter in Michigan that wasn’t related to someone on the campaign payroll? Either they’re completely frantic or just plain stupid – you make the call.
Politico had the story:
Romney has campaigned in Michigan on a pledge to help revive the state’s struggling economy. In introducing Sachs, Romney discussed the economic difficulties in the community and described the particular plight of his hostess — but made no mention of her ties to his campaign.
“It means a real tough setting for a mom with two sons,” Romney said. “One son is still in high school. Another son [is] getting ready to go off into the police academy in the west.”
Ironically, when it came time to take questions from the reporters gathered around Sachs’ kitchen table, Romney joked: “If you don’t want to answer any questions, that’s fine, too. What I’ve learned is, if they ask a question, you can answer something else.”
“Oh, ok,” Sachs responded, laughing along with Romney.
“Just talk about the general subject,” Romney suggested.
Talking to a small handful of reporters after Romney and most of his press pack had left the kitchen, Sachs offered details about her age, job situation, and her effort to sell her home.
When asked about her children, she only said that one was “20, soon to be 21″ and that another was a teenager.
The Associated Press distributed a photograph of Romney and Elizabeth Sachs kitchen chat, which ran on the Boston Globe’s Web site and CBS’s Harry Smith interviewed Romney from Sachs’ home.