Mitt Romney showed up Tuesday night talking about `` binders full of women '' being brought to him when he was governor . Sounds kind of kinky and certainly not something you want to be touting . The phrase was part of Romney 's answer to a question from an audience member at the second presidential debate about how he would `` rectify the inequalities in the workplace . '' Referring to when he took over as Massachusetts governor , he said , `` I had the chance to pull together a Cabinet , and all the applicants seemed to be men , '' he said . `` I went to a number of women 's groups and said , 'Can you help us find folks ? ' and they brought us whole binders full of women . '' The `` binders '' moment went viral immediately on Twitter , spawning @ RomneysBinders and @ womaninabinder Twitter handles . As of Wednesday morning , almost 300,000 people had supported a Facebook page about what a politically dumb statement it was . Romney may soon say it was `` inelegant '' phrasing or he did n't finish his statement or some other excuse , but the comment shows why voters , especially women , do n't trust him and do n't believe he has their back . CNN Money : Bindersfullofwomen.com snapped up in 90 seconds . In fairness , `` binders '' was most likely a slip of the tongue . But Romney said it in an effort to obfuscate and pivot from the issue at hand : equality for women . He avoided the real question , and that , and his remark , spoke volumes . Even as a slip of the tongue , this odd phrase betrays Romney 's true lack of understanding , knowledge and comfort level on women 's equality . And besides the binders comment , there are several problems with the story Romney told Tuesday night . First of all , it is not true . The `` binder '' of women 's résumés was prepared before the election by the Massachusetts Government Appointments Project , a coalition of nonpartisan women 's groups . When Romney won , the women -- not in binders -- gave him the résumés . Romney told that story in an effort to demonstrate how well his administration had done in hiring women . Except it did n't . A study by the University of Massachusetts and the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy shows that the percentage of women in senior positions during his tenure actually declined . It went from 30 % when Romney took office to 27 % when he left and up to more than 33 % after the new governor took over . Did Romney undo gains with women ? Also , it boggles the mind that throughout his decades-long career in business , Romney had not come across any qualified women he could appoint to his Cabinet . The Romney campaign points to longtime aide Beth Myers , but she was not in the Cabinet . The more reasonable explanation is that diversity of gender , or any kind of diversity , was never an important tenet of corporate leadership for Romney . Which is why he did not proactively seek out the `` binders full of women '' : Women 's groups , in fact , came looking for him . All of this goes to the heart of why Romney has had such a hard time winning over the women 's vote . He answered the audience member 's question from the standpoint of a detached CEO who knew that he had to find qualified women to serve in his administration come hell or high water , given the vast disparity between men and women holding management positions . He must have known he would be blasted if he did n't do it . In this day and age , this should be a no-brainer . You should not ask the American people to give you a medal for hiring qualified women . The dissonance when it comes to the governor and women went even further at the debate . Romney not only could n't answer the question about women ' equality , he could not even answer a question about outlawing AK-47s without bringing up single mothers . Saying he did not believe in changing gun laws , he seemed to equate children raised by single parents with the `` culture of violence . '' I may be wrong , but I do n't think that is a good strategy to get struggling single moms to vote for you . Tech : Social world thumbs through 'binders full of women ' President Obama , in contrast , answered the equality question not just from a personal standpoint as a father but also as a commander in chief who signed a bill into law that guaranteed women could receive equal pay for equal work , the Lilly Ledbetter Act . Romney conspicuously never said whether he supported that act . The president 's approach was much more in synch with what women want to hear and with what all Americans know to be fair . The binders comment was even more unfortunate for Romney in that he said it in the midst of Obama 's very strong showing . The president clearly showed that he had the fight , the passion and the commitment to continue to work for middle-class voters -- on jobs , on health care , on taxes , on education , on immigration and , yes , on women 's issues . This all underscores Romney 's inability to really connect with voters . Although he seemed to win a little more favor among women after the first debate , I predict binders of polling data as to why that movement stopped after Tuesday night .
Romney 's `` binders full of women '' debate remark is a viral phenomenon . Maria Cardona : He avoided the real question about rectifying women 's inequality . Cardona : `` Binders '' comment shows how out of touch Romney is with women 's issues . Cardona : The story and his claims about hiring women in Massachusetts are false .