Democrats sought to turn the tables on Mitt Romney Friday afternoon by seizing on comments he made in Iowa that suggested the country doesn’t need more firefighters, police or teachers.
Mr. Romney was responding to President Obama’s earlier remarks about the private economy’s being “fine.” In doing so, Mr. Romney dismissed Mr. Obama’s call for more aid to state and local governments.
“He wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers,” Mr. Romney said of Mr. Obama. “He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
Democrats pounced on the comment, saying it proved that Mr. Romney would like to eliminate jobs for teachers, firefighters and police officers.
“Could Mitt Romney be any more disconnected from the concerns of middle-class Americans?” said R.T. Rybak, the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “To suggest that police, firefighters and teachers aren’t helping the American people and aren’t vital to our communities shows that he has no clue what’s going on in the real world.”
Mr. Rybak added: “Mitt Romney’s assertion that the American people don’t benefit from firemen, policemen and teachers is so detached from reality I did a double take – I had to check twice to be sure he had actually said it.”
The rapid response team for the Democratic National Committee sent out numerous statements Friday afternoon, clearly intended to try to change the subject. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, issued a statement echoing the party response.
“We knew Mitt Romney liked firing people, but we didn’t know that included firefighters and cops,” Mr. Schumer said. “Middle-class voters already distrust Mitt Romney for being out-of-touch and uncaring about regular folks. Bragging about wanting to give pink slips to first responders only cements that perception.”
Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.
