David Brooks lacerates Mitt Romney for comments made on a hidden video that show he “doesn’t know much about the political culture” and “has lost any sense of the social compact.”

“Personally, I think he’s a kind, decent man who says stupid things because he is pretending to be something he is not — some sort of cartoonish government-hater. But it scarcely matters. He’s running a depressingly inept presidential campaign. Mr. Romney, your entitlement reform ideas are essential, but when will the incompetence stop?”

A Suffolk University/WHDH-TV poll in Massachusetts has found Elizabeth Warren (D) pulling ahead of Sen. Scott Brown (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 44%.

It’s the third poll in three days that shows a momentum shift towards Warren ahead of their first debate on Thursday.

Said pollster David Paleologos: “The Democratic National Convention appears to have connected the dots for some voters in Massachusetts. They’ve linked Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, and congressional candidate Joseph Kennedy, whose district includes southeastern Massachusetts. Warren benefitted not only from her own speech, but from the oratory of others, both inside and outside of Massachusetts.”

“It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.”

— Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, commenting on the hidden camera video showing Romney talking disparagingly of 47% of all voters.

A hidden camera video of Mitt Romney at a fundraiser shows him talking disparagingly of people who will vote for President Obama.

Said Romney: “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.”

He adds: “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

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“Is there anyone who believes that dividing America and trying to find
some group to tax more is somehow going to create more jobs?”

— Mitt Romney, on Fox News, on April 11, 2012.

The comment is particularly interesting in light of Romney’s remarks captured on a hidden video at a fundraiser.

A Global Strategy Group (D) poll in Indiana finds Mitt Romney leading President Obama by six points in the presidential race, 47% to 41%.

In the U.S. Senate race, Joe Donnelly (D) edges Richard Mourdock (R), 45% to 42%.

A hidden camera caught Mitt Romney joking at a fundraiser that he might have a better chance at winning the election if he had Mexican grandparents.

Said Romney: “My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico… and had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot at winning this. But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino.”

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Josh Green: “Romney’s problem is not that he’s brought too little executive rigor to the job of running for president — it’s that he’s brought too much. He’s behaved too much like a businessman (or a consultant) and not enough like a politician. His campaign has all the hallmarks of being run by someone looking only at the numbers, who lacks a true politician’s appreciation for the other dimensions of a race – a feel for the electorate, a convincing long-term plan for the country. Were he forced to defend himself before a board of directors, Romney would actually have a pretty solid case for doing what he’s done.”

A new Pew Research survey finds that just 26% of those who have followed news on the attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East approve of Mitt Romney’s comments on the situation, while 48% disapprove.

In contrast, 45% approve of President Obama’s handling of the recent turmoil, while 36% disapprove.

“Outside groups have accounted for almost half of all ad spending during this presidential general election,” First Read reports.

“Groups supporting the presidential candidates but not affiliated with the campaign, including Super PACs, have spent $267 million of the $605.7 million spent on television and radio ads… That means about 44 cents of every dollar spent on ads this election has come from outside groups.”

“There’s a big difference between who they’re supporting. Three-quarters of all money spent by outside groups — $212 million — has gone to support Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Wisconsin shows President Obama barely edging Mitt Romney among likely voters, 49% to 48%.

In the U.S. Senate race, Tammy Baldwin (D) now leads Tommy Thompson (R), 48% to 45%.

The latest impreMedia/Latino Decisions tracking poll finds President Obama solidifying his lead over Mitt Romney among Latino voters by a whopping 68% to 26%.

Also interesting: “Latina voters plan to vote for President Obama by a margin of 74% to 21% for Romney — a 53 point gap.”

Frank Rich made an attempt “to put myself in the Republican brain by spending a solid week listening to, watching, reading, surfing, and otherwise gorging on conservative media.”

“I came away with empathy for those in the right’s base, who are often sold out by the GOP Establishment, and admiration for a number of writers, particularly the youngish conservative commentators at sites like the American Conservative and National Review Online whose writing is as sharp as any on the left (and sometimes as unforgiving of Republican follies) but who are mostly unknown beyond their own ideological circles. What many of the right’s foot soldiers and pundits have in common is their keen awareness that they got a bum deal in Tampa, a convention that didn’t much represent either their fiercely held ideology or their contempt for the incumbent.”

Nate Cohn: “If Obama’s four point lead persists through the week, Obama should be considered a very strong favorite for reelection. While it might seem that the heart of the campaign is still to come, the candidate leading two weeks after the in-party convention has gone onto win the popular vote in every presidential election since Truman’s come from behind victory in 1948. And the only other comebacks were also staged by candidates or incumbents who ascended to the presidency or the nomination following resignation, assassination, or a late decision not to seek reelection.”

Reuters reports President Obama is “cramming” for the upcoming debates.

“Forced to juggle his governing and campaigning responsibilities, Obama is squeezing in debate prep when he can… Obama uses flights to Nevada, Colorado and other election swing
states on Air Force One to read up on Romney’s positions, or studies in
the evenings at the White House when he’s in town.”

Said David Axelrod: “We don’t have the same luxury that Romney does in terms of time.”

Jennifer Rubin says Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign has at least five problems “that dull and dampen its message and drive conservatives nuts”: 1) poor surrogates, 2) too slow to respond to events, 3) too little explanation, 4) not enough leadership talk, 5) and not enough context.

Erick Erickson: “It would be easy to dismiss me by saying I never cared for Romney or I’m somehow actually rooting against him. So let me put it to you this way: Jenn Rubin and I are on the same page. That’s either a sign of the apocalypse or there is something really dysfunctional happening within the Romney campaign.”