This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gov. Mitt Romney just showed his true colors, and they're not red, white and blue — they're dollar green. In a post-election conference call with donors, the former Republican presidential candidate blamed President Barack Obama's victory on bribes to Democratic constituencies, showing not only lack of grace in defeat but poor analytical skills for a Harvard MBA graduate.
Romney said the "young people" voted for the president because lower interest rates on college loans and being able to stay on their parents' health care plans saved them money. "Free contraceptives were very big with young, college-aged women," he said.
It turns out that Romney does believe that 47 percent of Americans are dependent freeloaders, including struggling students, instead of Americans who need help because "we're all in this together" (thank you, Bill Clinton).
Could it be that college-aged women voted for Obama, not just because they agreed with him that women should have control over their bodies, but because they like Obama's vision overall for a more equal opportunity America for everyone.
Leave it to a lifelong privileged Republican businessman to reduce every human decision down to money. Romney lost because he didn't understand the lives of most Americans.
Albert Ball
Salt Lake City