Video hurts Romney's revival efforts Romney says: "There are 47 per cent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what Romney's message was that he was a problem-solver who could turn round the economy (Financial Times) -- Mitt Romney's efforts to turn round his presidential campaign were thrown off course after video clips emerged in which he said US President Barack Obama could count on the support of 47 per cent of Americans who are "dependent on government," do not pay tax and "believe that they are victims." The clips were posted on the website of Mother Jones, a liberal magazine, and were widely circulated via Twitter, creating more distractions for the Romney campaign at a time when many Republicans fear that it is veering off track. In one clip, Romney says: "There are 47 per cent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what . . . who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it . . . These are people who pay no income tax. He added: "My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. Within hours of the release of the tapes, the Republican nominee was forced to concede that his comments were not "elegantly stated," but he said they were consistent with his previous public comments. His campaign issued a statement saying that the candidate wanted to help "all Americans struggling in the Obama economy." Jim Messina, Mr Obama's campaign manager, responded: "It's hard to serve as president for all Americans when you've disdainfully written off half the nation." The incident was reminiscent of a secret recording of Mr Obama before the 2008 election, in which he told donors that some small-town voters were bitter people who "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them." David Corn, a reporter for Mother Jones who wrote the video story, said on Monday night that the video was taken at the Florida home of a private equity executive and donor to Romney. He also said that the magazine would be releasing more footage of Romney's private conversation with donors soon. The development was more bad news on a difficult day for the campaign. Top advisers spent the morning trying to persuade anxious Republicans not to panic against the backdrop of disappointing polling data and reports of infighting among Romney's campaign staff. Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser, said the campaign was poised to release more details about the nominee's policies, reflecting a finding by Neil Newhouse, Romney's chief pollster, that voters did not understand the difference between the Republican candidate's positions on tax and the deficit and those of Mr Obama. But efforts to discuss "details" -- including a speech in which Romney rehashed a plan to cut $500bn a year in government spending by the end of his first term -- were overshadowed by complaints from Republicans who worry that with just seven weeks to go before election day, Mr Romney trails in most swing states. The former private equity chief executive, whose message was that he was a problem-solver who could turn round the economy, now stands accused by some in his own party of running a disorganised campaign. "The very simple truth is that Mitt Romney has failed to close any deal with the voters and his message is so muddled no voter really knows what they are getting," said Erick Erickson, an influential conservative blogger. He said that Stuart Stevens, the Republican campaign strategist, was creating "lots and lots and lots of angst" among Republican donors and people close to the campaign. An article on Politico, the website, that quoted unnamed advisers and friends of Romney castigated Stevens for his alleged role in a "chaotic eight-day scramble" to prepare Romney's acceptance speech at the Republican convention. Polls show that Mr Obama has an edge in key swing states such as Ohio, but Romney's campaign was on Monday claiming that the president's bounce in the polls after the convention in Charlotte was dissipating. We're up in Wisconsin. It's a state [Obama] carried by 14 points, that tells you the nature of this campaign and the dynamics of the race," said Mr Gillespie.