Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's recent gaffe where he stated he was not concerned about the poor people of America because they have access to social programs to help them is not just a misunderstanding between him and the press on his true meaning. It is a genuine statement of his beliefs, though he is now trying to say he did not mean it the way it sounded. However, this is just damage control on his part. For someone with Mitt Romney's huge degree of wealth (he is definitely one of the top members of the one percent), relating to the very poor of America on any kind of personal level is practically impossible. He just doesn't have any frame of reference for it, and his statement is just a reflection of this.

Now, this does not mean Mitt Romney hates the poor or has anything against them. That is very unlikely to be true. He simply does not understand them, their needs, wants, desires, or even prospects of getting wealthier. Having never known what it is like to be extremely poor, he literally comes from a different world than those on the financial fringe of society. Even the middle class will be very nearly beyond his understanding, if he understands them at all. He comes from a world of privilege, where money has never been an issue for him. This alone makes him a poor candidate for president of the United States.