BY NATHAN R. SHRADER - MANY PUNDITS have either already expressed shock over Romney's "47 percent" talk or elected to defend him as a yacht club straight-talker. From my vantage point as a Republican committeeman, it seems as if they are missing the true reasons for why this moment is so important in the long run and how it may impact the Republican Party here and now.

Our kids and grandkids will probably be reading about the leaked video of Romney talking to a bunch of well-heeled donors about the slothful, unwashed masses comprising the American electorate. I believe historians will recall this as Romney's nadir, helping put the proverbial nail in his political coffin...

...It gets worse. Romney also noted that "my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Before considering the politics of the situation, we must reflect on the actual data. According to the Tax Policy Center, in 2011 46.4 percent of American households did not pay federal income taxes. Among these households, 28.3 percent still paid payroll taxes. This leaves 18.1 percent who paid no federal payroll or income taxes that year, of which 10.3 percent were elderly and 6.9 percent made less than $20,000.

Now that we know who constitutes the 18.1 percent who paid no federal taxes last year, we can understand who the villains are in Romney World: our senior citizens and grandparents, our neighbors, college students, our co-workers, military veterans, our friends, the working poor and our own loved ones.

Romney - the man who wants to be president of 100 percent of the country - made a malicious statement about many of the people he desires to lead.