I stand second to none in being critical of Mitt Romney’s campaign. Hell, on MSNBC yesterday, Bay Buchanan lit into me as having never been with them and finding things to criticize. So pay attention here. Michael Warren is engaged in some beltway thinking that I think has plagued the Romney camp and which has always been a chief concern.For once, we see Mitt Romney undercover and off the record and he sounds like a real person not pulled by the gravitational forces of the DC GOP Elite who have capitulated to $16 trillion in national debt. And suddenly, those beltway Republicans are beating up Romney for saying something off the cuff, maybe not as polished as he should have, but that is agreed with by a majority of Americans.Consider Michael Warren’s headline: “Conservatives Agree: Romney’s Wrong.”Like hell.

• Hot Air – Allahpundit: Romney: Obama’s 47% Of The Electorate Is Dependent On Government
• Townhall – Carol Platt Liebau: Is Mitt Romney Wrong?
• Blaze – Becket Adams: Romney Revealed: Leaked Footage Shows Gop Candidate Claiming 47 Percent Of Americans Will Vote Obama Because They Want Gov’t To Take Care Of Them
• The Corner – John O’sullivan: How Romney Should Respond
• Gateway Pundit – Jim Hoft: Mitt Romney Responds To Leaked Fundraiser Video – Slams Obama (Video)
• Human Events – John Hayward: Mitt Romney And The 47 Percent
• Fox Nation: Romney Calls For Release Of Full ’47 Percent’ Video, Says Comments Weren’t ‘Elegantly Stated’
• Campaign Spot – Jim Geraghty: Here’s What Inspires The Gop’s ‘Entitlement’ Perception
• Campaign Spot – Jim Geraghty: What Inspires The Gop’s ‘Entitlement’ Perception, Part Two
• Power Line – Scott Johnson: The 47-Percent Solution
• PJ Media – Bryan Preston: Julia Nods Her Head
• Marathon Pundit – John Ruberry: From Doug Ross: Campaign That Wrote Off The White Working Class Decries Romney’s concerns With The Culture Of Dependency
• Daily Caller – Jim Treacher: The Democrats Think Romney Just Self-Destructed By Pointing Out, Um, Their Entire Strategy
• Right Sphere – Thomas: Romney And The 47%
• Townhall – Guy Benson: Video: Romney Holds Presser To Respond To 47 Percent “Controversy”
• Washington Examiner – Paul Bedard: It’s Worse Than Romney Said: 49% On Federal Aid, 49% Pay No Tax
• Twitchy – Brett Taylor: Conservatives Not So Shocked By Secret Romney Tape Revelations
• Marathon Pundit – John Ruberry: Romney Is Right: Obama Is Turning Us Into An Entitlement Society
• Mediaite – Noah Rothman: Laura Ingraham Fired Up Over Romney’s 47% Tape: ‘It’s Ridiculous’ This Is Getting Airtime
• Hot Air – Ed Morrissey: No, Romney Didn’t Just Lose The Election

Add RedState and me to the list. Back when I was running political campaigns, my first rule of politics was very simple: always know when you are in the minority, even when you think you are right. The media, the left, and apparently a handful of Washington conservatives think they are right, but I think the Gallup survey shows they are in the minority on this.As Ben Domenech wrote in his excellent Transom this morning:

Mitt Romney on the nation of moochers. SOURCE “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.” Sorry folks expecting a rant on this, but I actually don’t think this one’s a big deal. Here’s the thing: gaffes of this nature have to have real victims in order to be workable. What helps Romney in this situation is that no one thinks they’re in the 47%. Even if they are! No one who was thinking of voting for Romney yesterday is standing up today saying “he’s criticizing me!” SOURCE “Everyone thinks they’re a “maker,” not a “taker,” due to whatever little tax they pay, so when Mitt lays into freeloaders, even people who pay no income tax think he’s talking about someone else. It’s sort of the flip side of senior citizens saying that America needs small government while telling politicians “Hands off my Medicare.”