It’s only September, but Mitt Romney has already written off almost half the country’s voters. A hidden-camera recording obtained by Mother Jones captures Romney at a private fundraiser telling donors that, “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.” Watch it:

Publicly, Romney claims that he aims to help middle-class Americans. As he told CNN’s Gloria Borger last month, “I know the very wealthy are going to do just fine whoever is elected. The middle class is the people that is the group of people that I am most concerned about, they need our – and the poor – they need our help. They need our help with good jobs. That is only going to come if we encourage this economy by keeping the burdens on small business down.”

A rodeo clown managed to roll racism and sexism into one crude joke about the First Lady at a rodeo in California this weekend. Mike Hayhurst suggested that Playboy offered Mitt Romney’s wife Ann $250,000 to pose nude for the magazine, but that Michelle Obama received just $50 from National Geographic to do the same.

Board members of the rodeo are distancing themselves from the remark, claiming that Hayhurst was not speaking for the institution. They have yet to fire him:

Speaking on behalf of the rodeo’s nine-member board,[Creston Classic Rodeo board member Mike Barrett] said that the board is not responsible for the joke and will ask Hayhurst for a letter addressing the issue and a public apology. The board will discuss at its next meeting if it will fire Hayhurst, and will review scripts for future performances by any clown.[...]

[The] joke as told by the announcer, went something like this: Playboy is offering Ann Romney $250,000 to pose in the magazine and the White House is upset about it because National Geographic only offered Michelle Obama $50 to pose for them. “I can’t speak for the board, but I myself think that this is unacceptable behavior or conduct by the announcer,” said Mike Barrett.

President Obama and the First Lady have long been the butt of bigoted jokes and outright racist insults. Just a few weeks ago, Michelle Obama was depicted as a disrobed slave by a Spanish magazine.