Mitt Romney has been the favored candidate in all reports of CEOs threatening employees in regards to how they vote, and a new video leaked has Romney himself advising business owners to lean on workers to vote a certain way in the coming election.
Voter intimidation as suggested by Mitt Romney in the clip is certainly not unheard of, and it may even not be illegal in the way it was handled by CEOs like David Siegel. But many have found the suggestion made by Romney and others that bosses threaten workers’ jobs in the event Obama is re-elected to be distasteful, as well as an abuse of the power CEOs hold over vulnerable employees in an uncertain economic climate. And to hear those words spoken out loud by a man seeking to represent all Americans as our president is somewhat jarring and upsetting, no matter who you plan to cast your ballot for in November.
In addition to David Siegel, Koch Industries also recently attempted to influence the votes of tens of thousands of their employees by sending out a letter threatening to let many go if Romney isn’t elected in November. But it still comes as a shock to hear the voter intimidation tactics used by people like Siegel and the Kochs suggested by Mitt Romney himself.
In the leaked audio, Romney can be heard at around 26:44 urging business owners to threaten or intimidate workers to vote for him, saying:
“I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming elections. And whether you agree with me or you agree with President Obama, or whatever your political view, I hope — I hope you pass those along to your employees. Nothing illegal about you talking to your employees about what you believe is best for the business, because I think that will figure into their election decision, their voting decision and of course doing that with your family and your kids as well.”
Thankfully, not all big business guys believe behavior such as that suggested by Romney is ethical or even good business. Good Guy CEO Mark Cuban tweeted in disgust after hearing of Siegel’s threats to employees, saying:
Telling or forcefully suggesting how yr employees should vote is the exact way to create problems among your workers and reduce productivity
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) October 11, 2012
Still, it is impossible to know the reach of tactics such as those Romney describes in the leaked clip — have you been subject to voter intimidation in the coming election?
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kim your article is such a mis-statement of what he said. are you the new candy Crowley? he was advocating to employers to tell their workers the election was important no matter who they support., not threatening anyone or ordering anyone to vote for him. you get 5 Pinocchios..
Nice! A very slippery slope you insist on walking Mr. Romney. What other things are you comfortable with that are "not illegal?" …and shame on you and your CEO buddies who were willing to infringe on others civil liberties.
Note to MItt: The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 prohibit persons from intimidating or attempting to intimidate, threaten or coerce another person for the purpose of interfering with their right to vote freely in federal elections.
Uh, did you read what he said? I find myself defending the remarks of a guy I don't particularly like.
"That's a nice job you got there kid… shame if something happened to it, huh? So, I don't know if you plan to vote, but if you like this nice job you got here, you might wanna consider voting for Romney. Glad we had this talk, huh?"
@Bill – Why don't you like him?
So what's the problem? Labor unions probably intimidate worse than that.
Wolff, more troubling still is that you are angry at a direct and factual quote because it doesn't match your narrative. Maybe you should be angry with Mitt for getting caught so blatantly telling CEOs to harass voters, instead of me for saying he did it.
Look. I am not a Mitten supporter by any stretch of the imagination but the context of what he is saying is completely blown out of proportion. Stretching what Mittens said into him trying to use coercion as a means to win an election is not what he said and I wish us Liberals with an obvious agenda wouldn't sink to the levels of that right wing scum of a media to try and win this thing.
That is clearly a case of hearing what you choose to hear. There was absolutely nothing threatening there at all.
And you know, I couldn't understand why the comment on Binders was being scrutinized. I thought it was maybe the wrong word to use…like he might have meant a file…just that maybe they put the females being considered in a binder.
For women, the idea that female candidates – who apparently existed in such numbers there were "binders full" of them, were, for starters, not presented for these positions until a special request was made. Or presented. And then on top of it, it's the clear segregation of women, where hiring of them becomes a token gesture, after all people put forth are men.
That there were binders of women compiled at all, that that was necessary, that female candidates were treated as a separate class? For starters?
As a trend, it's interesting. Because we have been seeing these stories about Koch, and David Siegel, and others, and then months earlier, Mitt Romney advised a group of business owners to do just that, in that way. That employers are feeling comfortable saying "vote my way, or else." It's ugly, and distasteful, and not what a man running for the White House should be advocating. It is newsworthy and indeed notable.
I've worked for a Fortune 500 company from 1970-2001 and they would try to influence employees on which candidate to vote for. Fine, I didn't feel intimidated or threatened or under threat of losing my job and voted for who I felt was the best candidate. And when I left it was my choice.
That's fucking disgusting, why do Americans keep on giving this guy a pass?
Major company CEO only wants him because of rich tax legislation Obama laid out before.
where did he threaten voters?
kims little fantasy
Mitt. I can wait for you to fade away. You are an idiot.
An employer can not check to see how his employees voted anyway so this is a non issue…………….
Nancy … I never had that happen to me, in any of my work places. Hospitals organizations, just don't do that. Though, I will admit, many of my surgeons influenced my way of thinking about candidates. :O)
Romney's problem is that he doesn't finish what he means to say, setting himself up for these kinds of things.
Note to all of you kool aid drinking Obama supporters. This is an opinion to be shared with the workers from the people who have to pay all the taxes and salaries. It is in fact very tame compared to how the workers are lied to and manipulated at union meetings!
I don't quite get your point Loops. Then again, I don't quite get Cubs fans either!
But the fear being put in front of you, what they are saying is "if Obama wins, I will be forced to make changes and fire people". That seriously would make you think twice about voting for Obama regardless wether they know or not. That's just simply bullying my friend and I find it absurd that these grown ass men would take this path.
Indeed it may seem that way……I am currently looking to hire some more employees if Romney gets elected, but I will probaly go out of business if Obama gets re-elected and that is only because of the high taxes and obamacare.
thats actually pretty racist and a stereotype and i think that you might wanna check that at the door…this is not the 50's so please stop acting like it. if you want to say something to the supports of a great man find a better way than that.
I agree with both of you. the thing is people need to remember what they learned in school. voting does not require you to give a name so it is a non issue. i have been out of work for the whole 4 years but that is not the pres fault. the fault for that goes to people that would rather have a computer do things for them. we make and break the job market.
Chaunta – the last resort of a kool aid drinking liberal is to cry racism. Nowhere in my post did I discuss race. It's called Free Speach protected by the Constitution. Look it up. And Randy I don't get your point. I'm a Red Sox Fan! Lets Go Bandits!
Chaunta Griffin Normally, I see a LOT of hateful, race-based Obama hatred in the news and comments. Alas, this is not one of them- while Kool-Aid is often a racial stereotype thing, here the commenter was referring to this, the origin of the phrase "kool aid drinker" in relation to politics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_the_Kool-Aid
Interesting article considering Obama people, including unions are also telling people who to vote for. This is not news! It is done by both sides.
The dynamic of a union endorsing a candidate versus a CEO telling people they will be fired if a candidate is entirely different, though.
This article is so misleading. I'm not voting for mitten but all he is trying to do is gain support by having businesses encourage people to vote for him. He is not forcing anybody. It is impossible for him to threaten their jobs, how would the employers know who the employees are voting for?
its true but you know what how the hell are they going to know who you vote for fuck them bitchs.
vote OBAMA ALL DAY.
I call total bullshi7