When Mitt Romney addressed the NAACP's annual convention earlier in July, he received a polite reception. That is, until his vow to destroy "Obamacare" was met with a whole lot of booing from the audience. He then told donors in Montana that if NAACP members want "more free stuff" from the government, they should "vote for the other guy," setting off a week of heated public discussion about his relationship (or lack thereof) with the black community.
But watching a new Web ad starring Romney and African-American supporters, you'd never know that the candidate's appearance was a flop or that his relationship with the civil rights group was anything other than one of mutual admiration. Here's the video, brought to you by the miracles of editing:
The move looks to us like an attempt to rewrite history that's so outrageous it's almost laughable. But it's also curious, given that many theorized the negative reaction from the civil rights group was exactly what the Romney camp intended to inspire: boos from black people in response to negative comments about Obama's position, as "red meat" for his base.
So is Romney speaking to a different group with this fantasy ad? Independents who missed the entire convention debacle and are somehow moved by evidence that three black people endorse him and that a handful once nodded while he made comments so vague, anyone could agree with them?
(And next, if he's going to be offering selective presentations of his reception by various groups, can we expect him to erase the way he annoyed all of London with his comments about the Olympics this week, by finding a way to touch up and republish today's Star headline referring to him as "Mitt the Twit"?)
Read more at MSNBC.