Nobody knows what the idiot means.
Half of FR responds to him as if he is saying “the” 47% who draw a check from the government.
Half of FR responds to him as if he is saying “the” 47% who do not owe income tax in a given year.
A minor third group says that he didn’t mean either of those, he only meant 47% of the entire electorate in general, from all categories.
You’re thinking too much.
He meant there are 47% (actually 49%) that do not pay income tax. He also lumped together people in that group that see themselves as victims and are entitled to a check from the government.
The numbers don’t add up, and he shouldn’t have lumped them together.
But the main point is that there are way too many people that believe that they should be entitled to financial help from the governnment (and are receiving financial assistance), those are the people who are likely to vote for Obama, and they aren’t likely to be the ones who are going to see Romney’s tax cutting ideas as beneficial to them.
Basically, we do have a significant percentage of the electorate who believe they are victims.