Mitt Romney claims concern for the waiters and waitresses at his country club fundraiser

Do you think Mitt wore his common-man pants to his country club fundraiser? (Sarah Conard/Reuters) What better time than a high-dollar country club fundraiser to defend against charges of plutocracy and express sympathy for the little people? At just such a fundraiser in Mississippi, Mitt Romney tried to rebut the conclusion frequently drawn from the fact that Republican policy is dedicated to making the rich richer and cutting services for everyone who's not rich:

"We're accused, by the way ' in our party ' of being the party of the rich," Romney said. "And it's an awful moniker, because that's just not true. We're the party of people who want to get rich. And we're also the party of people who want to care to help people from getting poor. We want to help the poor.

Really? What in Romney's record or policies suggests that? The giant tax cuts for people who are already rich on the backs of middle-class and poor people? The trail of companies that Bain bought, sucked millions in profits out of, and left bankrupt? But no, to be fair, it's true that there aren't enough rich people to win elections for the Republican Party, and Republicans do depend on people who are willing to be suckered into believing they will be rich someday and should therefore vote for rich-people policies.

Romney also showed his common touch:

"I know that people in this room are probably doing relatively well, relative to folks across this country. But not everyone in America is doing so well right now, it's tough being middle class in America right now," Romney said. "The waiters and waitresses that come in and out of this room and offer us refreshments, they're not having a good year.

Waiters and waitresses do have it tough, especially if they're tipped workers making the federal tipped worker minimum wage of $2.13 or are victims of the wage theft that's common in the restaurant industry. But it's a safe bet Romney hasn't received the most contributions from the food and beverage industry of any candidate this cycle because he wants to make the lot of waiters and waitresses better.

"The people of the middle class of America are really struggling. And they're struggling, I think, in a way because they're surprised, because when they voted for Barack Obama, he promised them that things were going to get a heck a lot of better," Romney said. "He promised hope and change and they're still waiting."

So basically: "Oh, look here at these little people, you see. (Smacks lips.) They feel pain. (Dabs away drool with another smack of lips.) And we're going to win this election because of their pain!"