The Romney's secret speech about Obama's voters: stereotyping the poor

This is an extract of a Mitt Romney's speech during a dinner with his 30 most important campaign donors. The video was secretly recorded.

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 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. ... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Participants and relate processes

Obama voters:

• 47 percent of the people - will vote (material)
• 47 percent - are with him (relational)
• 47 percent - are dependent upon government (relational)
• 47 percent - believe (mental) that they are victims (relational)
• 47 percent - believe (mental) the government…
• 47 percent - believe (mental) that they are entitled (material) to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it
• they - will vote for this president (material)
• people who - pay no income tax (material)
• They - should take (material) personal responsibility and care (material) for their lives

Government:

• government - has a responsibility to care for them (relational)
• the government - should give (material)

Romney:

• My job - is (not to worry about those people) (relational)
• I - will never convince them (material)

Considerations

The analysis of this speech is quite simple, because here Romney addresses to a small group of supporters, so he has not to pay attention to be politically correct or to disguise its purposes.
There are two main subjects in the discourse: Romney and Obama's voters, that the republican candidate oppose to him.
I think the aim of the speech is to reassure backers, rich and conservative people, that they will hold their privileges if the Republican Party wins the election. Romney wants to underline that he will not reach any compromise with poor people.
The expression “poor people” is not explicitly mentioned but it is presented as a synonym of “Obama's voters”. 
“They believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it”: they believe they are entitled to exist even if they have the guilty to be not rich!
Romney often uses the word “they” to distance himself from the poorest, which he considers unwilling or unable to change their lives. In his point of view there is not a problem of the entire society for the bad conditions in which a lot of people live, but there is the guilty of the individuals to be poor. To remark his distance, Romney makes use of negative form when he tells about his position (“my job is not to worry about“, “I’ll never convince them“) towards the “47 percent of people”.
Finally, poverty is presented as a monolithic reality, without distinctions. This demonstrate the will to ignore the matter, even if a lot of people became poor when the crisis unleashed because of the instability of the financial markets and the bad management of the economy by government. 

Angela Pulliero