Steve Kornacki's latest Salon.com article: Mitt can't ignore the 47 percent

Mitt Romney is hardly getting blown out in the presidential late, but Republicans seem to be weighing the possibility that he’s becoming a drag on their chances in some key down-ballot races.

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For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Romney has consistently trailed President Obama by several points in national polling, and the fallout from his secretly recorded “47 percent” comments that surfaced this week could worsen that deficit. In swing states and Democratic-friendly states, the comment has put Republican Senate candidates in a particularly tough spot. After all, it was Obama voters that Romney was disparaging, and in many of these states Obama voters make up significantly more than 47 percent of the electorate.

So far, four Republican Senate candidates have publicly distanced themselves from Romney’s remarks. The newest is Linda Lingle, the popular former governor of Hawaii who is waging an uphill fight in the blue state where Barack Obama was raised.

“I am not a rubber stamp for the national party and I am not responsible for the statements of Mitt Romney” Lingle said in a statement released Wednesday.

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