Romney's comeback: 1998 clip of Obama saying we need 'to make sure that everybody has got a shot'

Okay, this is a hilarious comeback attempt:

TELLING ! -- Audio of President Obama in 1998 ' 'I actually believe in redistribution' http://www.youtube.com/...
' @Reince via Twitter for iPhone Ooooh. Red Menace! Except here's what Obama said, 14 years ago, talking about helping the working poor:

I think what we're going to have to do is resuscitate the notion that government can be effective at all. There has been a systematic'I don't think it's too strong to call it a propaganda campaign'against the possibility of government action and its efficacy. And I think some of it's been deserved: Chicago housing authority has not been a model of good policy making and neither have been necessarily the Chicago public schools.

What this means, then, is that we try to resuscitate this notion that we're all in this together, leave nobody behind, we do have to be innovative in thinking what are the delivery systems that are actually effective and meet people where they live? And my suggestion, I guess, would be that the trick'and this is one of the few areas I think that there are technical issues that need to be dealt with as opposed to just political issues'I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources, and hence facilitate some redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody has got a shot.

So in the late 1990s, Barack Obama said he believes in a government that has the resources'and the ability to effectively use those resources'to give everybody a fair shot at success. Specifically, he said he believed in things like public schools and housing programs. That puts him on the same page as just about all Americans. Maybe Reince Priebus finds that scary because Obama referred to it as "redistribution." But if Mitt Romney wants to start campaigning on a pledge to ban public education because everybody doesn't deserve a fair shot at success, then please, go right on ahead. Make our day.

But of course, that's not what Mitt Romney is going to say. In fact, he will say the exact same thing as President Obama. To wit: here's what he just said today on Fox, trying to deflect attention from his fundraiser comments by attacking the same clip tweeted by Preibus.

I believe the right course for America is one where government steps in to help people in need'we're a compassionate people'but then we let people build their own lives.

Uh, that's redistribution, at least in the sense that Obama was talking about. Which means Mitt Romney supports redistribution, even though he actually was trying to attack President Obama with those words. Maybe next time Romney should just stick to the fundraisers. At least most of the people there seem to like what he has to say.

1:34 PM PT: Romney also said he wants government to help people get jobs.