SHAPIRO: O'Sullivan said the first thing he noticed about the two plain white three-ring binders is that they're very substantial. O'SULLIVAN: And I said, oh, geez, you know, this is a political artifact worthy of the Smithsonian. He writes about politics for The Boston Globe. A former Romney aide alerted me to the fact that they had found them while cleaning up their office.ĬORNISH: This scoop comes to us from Jim O'Sullivan. JIM O'SULLIVAN: I got the binders a couple of weeks ago. SHAPIRO: And nobody knew whether these were real life binders, and they certainly didn't see the light of day until now. JON STEWART: Binder of women, book of broads, notebook of nipples, whatever. You ain't heard?īARACK OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy? THE SEAN WARD SHOW: (Rapping) Binders full of women that's my modus operandi. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, 'BINDERS FULL OF WOMEN') UNIDENTFIED MAN: (As Mitt Romney) Binders keepers. SHAPIRO: There was a parody cartoon sketch. And the Internet seized on the binders, too.ĬORNISH: There were Facebook pages and Twitter accounts like and countless Halloween costumes that year. SHAPIRO: Democrats seized on Romney's awkward turn of phrase as a way to criticize the governor both for weakness on women's issues and for his robotic demeanor. Hard to believe now, but back then, this was a full-on gaffe. I went to a number of women's groups and said, can you help us find folks? And they brought us whole binders full of women.ĬORNISH: Oh, yes, the binders full of women. ROMNEY: We took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. SHAPIRO: When he was asked to discuss women's pay issues, Romney tried to describe his effort to hire more women into his administration. The setting - October 16, 2012, the second presidential debate between then President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. MITT ROMNEY: Thank you, and important topic. An update now on a political scandal that once rocked the nation.ĬANDY CROWLEY: Governor Romney, pay equity for women?

Binders Full of Women by Lana Cordova