Listen to Mitt Romney Urge Business Owners to Tell Their Employees How to Vote

In These Times found a June teleconference between Mitt Romney and small business owners. At the 26 minute mark, Romney urges the small businessmen to tell their employees how to vote. Listen:

I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming elections. And whether you agree with me or you agree with President Obama, or whatever your political view, I hope, I hope you pass those along to your employees. [There's] Nothing illegal about you talking to your employees about what you believe is best for the business, because I think that will figure into their election decision, their voting decision.

In These Times suggests that this audio "raises the question of whether the Romney campaign is complicit in the corporate attempts to influence employees' votes that have been recently making headlines." If there is coordination between the Romney campaign and captains of industry to strong-arm voters into voting in their bosses' interests, this is one of the most despicable strategies I have seen any campaign deploy in my lifetime. As Romney says, it's not illegal, but it should be.