Romney touts his and his wife's car collection
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney hugs his sister Lynn Keenan after speaking to the Detroit Economic Club at Ford Field in Detroit, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012.
/ AP Photo/Gerald HerbertAnswering a question about a possible fall matchup with President Obama, Romney said he has the best chance of defeating the incumbent and went on to say he will be a friend of Michigan, a state defined by its relationship to cars. He then mentioned how many he has himself.
"I love this country. I actually love this state. It just feels good, being back in Michigan," Romney said. "I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles. I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs actually. And I used to have a Dodge truck, so I used to have all three [big automakers] covered."
The reference to the sheer number of cars he has, and his wife's two high-end cars, is likely unhelpful to a candidate who is trying to shake an image as a wealthy elitist out of touch with the economic worries of everyday Americans.
The campaign quickly issued a clarification saying that Ann Romney's cars are 2007 and 2010 Cadillac SRX models, and that one of them is at the family's house in La Jolla, Calif., while the other is at their residence in Belmont, Mass. Romney has said before that the cars are small cross-overs.
Romney was born and raised in Michigan and his father, George Romney, was governor of the state as well as a onetime president of American Motors.
Also detracting from the Romney's remarks about his economic fixes was the campaign's choice of venue. The event was held at Ford Field, which has a capacity of 65,000. But only about 1,200 people were on hand, about 2 percent of stadium's capacity, and the backdrop for Romney's speech was largely empty space. The crowd was largely made up of professionals in business suits, a stark contrast to the regular inhabitants - fans of the hometown Detroit Lions. Romney spoke at the 30-yard line.
A spokesman for the Detroit Economic Club, which hosted the event, said that the field was chosen because the original venue, a local Westin hotel, could not house the growing number of attendees who had bought tickets.
The football theme reverberated at a campaign stop later in the day. Romney popped into a restaurant in Mount Clemens called The Mitt, where he joked about the establishment's name and told the crowd that his parents had named him after a cousin who played football for the Chicago Bears in the 1920s. "They thought by naming me Mitt Romney, I'd get extraordinary athletic ability. Yeah, you're laugh is exactly right -- that did not happen."
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"Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs" The man has to keep mentioning he is loaded. No, Cadillacs are not BMWs... but did he realize in Detroit many can't afford ONE car?
What is this man doing as the frontronner for the GOP nomination? Obama is certain to be re-elected. Mitt loosing Michigan would be the best thing for the Republicans.
You folks on the right must be soooooo embarrassed???? I suggest taking the next 4 years off and try and figure out how your party is going to become relevant to the American voter... DO worry....Pres Obama and the Dems have the country covered while you take some time to focus...
Power and influence.
He should learn his religion, where Jesus said 'It is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven.'
It is amazing that liberals think wealth is a bad thing. It has to be sad being a liberal sitting around worrying if your neighbor might be making a couple more bucks then you.
Jealousy is an ungly emotion and no good ever comes from it!
They are liberal in their thinking therefore they do their thing, you do you thing.
But what liberals really dislike are hypocrites like Romney who stats he knows what it is like to be poor when ole Mitt has never went without a meal, a car, a house or 6, money for any college let alone Harvard, never had a job for an hourly wage, never once went without healthcare or access to a dentist.
Yet he claims he is as "blue collar" as they come!
He has lived every single minute of his life in a world that 99% of Americans will never know .....absolute luxury.