At first glance, Mitt Romney looks like a stand up guy. His lapels are always in place, he is able to articulate his words in an intelligent manner and he even has a proportional tan (a quality gravely overlooked in Presidents). But like all things that look good, a character is best judged when they speak on things worth speaking on.

I always found it troubling that nearly every President pre-Obama that has nested in the White House has come from privileged, cookie-cutter backgrounds. It is troubling because these men are responsible for the entire country, and if you haven’t been watching the leaderless movement known as Occupy Wall Street, these seemingly wealthy Presidents only represent one percent of our population. Policies such as education, taxes, jobs and health care specifically affect the middle class and those stricken by poverty. The quality of these policies greatly depreciate the further down the income bracket you go.

With that said, how are men who have only experienced private school education from grade level schooling through college, grade-A health care courtesy of their wealthy parents and jobs often passed down to them by these same parents supposed to understand the plight of the poor? They’re not, and all they can do is go into the field and research how the rest of America is living, something they more often neglect to do unless there is a state of emergency.

Part of the reason President Obama is so popular with the parts of the country affected the most by his key policies is because he has experienced first hand what these areas of the country are feeling. He has depended on student loans before, he has lived in poverty before and has gone into the projects of Chicago seeking to reform the poor quality education children were, and still are receiving. In short, he understands Americans.

Which brings me to my next point: Mitt Romney does not, and cannot, understand the plight of the poor. His constant disparaging comments that blame the poor and anyone dependent on government help minimizes their struggle. Romney’s condescending statements indicate a deluded mindset that many people who are wealthy and have never held an hourly wage before have. They assume that people who are poor want to be poor, and have no desire to escape the hell they are in.

In his now infamous candid dinner with wealthy donors that went viral on MotherJones.com, Romney characterized 47 percent of Americans as, “people who pay no income tax and are dependent upon government.” He also claimed that this demographic is the kind to support President Obama because they are victims that feel they are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing – you name it!” He goes on to claim that supporters of President Obama believe the government has a “responsibility to care for them.”

This line of thinking is beyond dangerous, beyond toxic and beyond reductive. This sense of detachment is exactly why Romney has no understanding of the plight of the poor. He has no true grip on their reality, and why as an American citizen, you are entitled to help from the government because it is their responsibility. What is the government if it is not to govern the people and ensure that we live in a democratic society? Part of that job description is maintaining the health of this country, and ensuring that aid is appropriated where it is needed. When a person has never directly experienced how aid from the government works, how are they able to formulate such a baseless attack on a demographic they do not care to understand? Romney is obviously a victim to his delusions of grandeur; they have crippled his ability to empathize with those that are not on the same playing field as he was.

While Romney and Obama come from two very different backgrounds, common sense, reasoning and empathy are qualities that regardless of your upbringing are necessary for any human being, especially for the President of the United States.