The GOP nominee does damage control on Fox News after Obama fails to confront him on it during their debate.

By Walt Cronkite, National Journal, October 4, 2012

Mitt Romney, trying to distance himself from perhaps his most damaging campaign moment, said Thursday that his infamous “47 percent” remarks were “completely wrong.”

“Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you are going to say something that doesn't come out right. In this case I said something that's just completely wrong,” Romney told Sean Hannity on Fox News. “And I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100 percent. And that has been demonstrated throughout my life.  And this whole campaign is about the 100 percent. When I become president it will be about helping the 100 percent.” [....]

The New York Times reported that Romney had hoped to try to repair the damage during the debate, when more than 67 million people were watching. But Obama did not bring it up, in part to deny Romney that opportunity, an aide told the newspaper.

Also see:

The Return of Massachusetts Mitt
by Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine, October 3, 2012

Tonight’s debate saw the return of the Mitt Romney who ran for office in Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002. He was obsessive about portraying himself as a moderate, using every possible opening or ambiguity — and, when necessary, making them up — to shove his way to the center [....]