Mitt Romney: 'I Say That Jokingly, But It Would Be Helpful To Be Latino'

Source: Huffington Post

In one of a series of clips from a secretly recorded campaign fundraiser, Mitt Romney makes a joking reference to his family's complicated history in Mexico, guessing that if his father George had been "born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this."

The comments mark a rare moment of levity on immigration for Romney, and they're a somewhat unusual reference to his family's complicated history in Mexico. "I mean, I say that jokingly," he adds, "but it would be helpful to be Latino."

Romney spent much of the primary season broadcasting a harsh stance on immigration, famously suggesting that he'd make life so unbearable for those in the U.S. without papers that they would "self-deport." Then he moved gingerly to the center once he had clinched his party's nomination, mindful of Latinos' increasingly large slice of the electorate.

"My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico ... and uh, had he been born of uh, Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this," Romney says in the video. "But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/mitt-romney-helpful-to-be-latino_n_1891359.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

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