At a campaign rally at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. on Friday President Barack Obama accused his opponent Mitt Romney of “side-stepping” and “forgetting” his position on a wide range of issues affecting women, saying the GOP presidential candidate had developed a condition known as “Romnesia.”
“Mr. ‘Severely Conservative’ wants you to think he was severely kidding about everything he said over the last year,” the President claimed.
Obama said he isn’t a doctor, but wanted to tell the crowd the symptoms of Romnesia “to make sure nobody else catches it.”
“If you say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care, you might have a case of Romnesia. If you say you’ll protect a woman’s right to choose, but you stand up at a primary debate and said that you’d be delighted to sign a law outlying – outlawing that right to choose in all cases – man, you’ve definitely got Romnesia,” the President said, bursting into laughter.
As the President described the signs of Romnesia, he grew more and more animated, feeding off the energy of the crowd, which was eating up his “diagnosis.” By the time he got to the climax of his Romneisa joke, the President was not only laughing but also shouting as he announced the “good news” about Romnesia.
“And if you come down with a case of Romnesia, and you can’t seem to remember the policies that are still on your website or the promises you’ve made over the six years you’ve been running for President, here’s the good news: Obamacare covers preexisting conditions,” Obama yelled.
“We can fix you up!
“We’ve got a cure!
“We can make you well, Virginia!
“This is a curable disease!” the President continued.
Obama, who has made women the focus of his campaign since Romney’s “binders full of women” comment from Tuesday debate, was introduced at the rally by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards. Earlier in the speech Obama hit Romney for saying he would defund Planned Parenthood and claimed that Romney is trying to offer women a “sketchy deal.”
Romney has never said or suggested that he wants to stop women from having access to contraception, but that didn’t stop Obama from repeatedly insinuating that’s exactly what the Republican candidate for President would do if elected.
“Gov. Romney wants to take us back to policies more suited for the 1950s. Even his own running mate said he’s ‘kind of a throwback to the ‘50s’,” Obama claimed. “He may not have noticed we’re in the 21st century.”
According to a Rasmussen poll released Friday, the former Massachusetts Governor now leads the President 50 percent to 47 percent in the Old Dominion with only two percent of voters remaining undecided. And for the first time in the race, news and polling website Real Clear Politics also has Romney beating Obama in electoral votes 206 – 201 with 131 electoral votes listed as toss-ups.
Watch OFA’s video of Obama’s Romnesia remarks below.
