Mitt Romney gaffes: 9 times the button-down candidate should have buttoned up

In politics, a gaffe is often described as a "truth told by accident." Mitt Romney has had relatively few of them during his time in politics, but when the former governor of Massachusetts commits one, it can be a doozy. And his gaffe in the Dec. 10 debate may end up costing him way more than the $10,000 he was betting fellow presidential candidate Rick Perry. Here’s a list of the most memorable.

- Linda Feldmann, Staff writer

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Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talks to Bob Garon during a campaign stop at the Chez Vachon Restaurant Monday in Manchester, N.H. (Jim Cole/AP)

3. ‘I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake’

In an October debate, Romney was being pushed on the illegal immigrants, hired by a lawn-care service, who had worked on Romney’s property. He recalled telling the lawn service, “I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake – I can’t have illegals.”

Oops.

The comment made Romney look both out-of-touch wealthy (How many people hire lawn services?) and cynical. He implied that if he wasn’t running for office, he wouldn’t care if the lawn service was employing illegal immigrants. The gaffe, which went viral, fed into the narrative that Romney lacks core principles.