Wendy Long, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate running against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, says Mitt Romney wasn’t necessarily wrong when grousing at a private fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans are trapped in an entitlement society even if he said it a bit awkwardly.

“It sounds like it’s not correct, I agree,” she said on Fred Dicker’s Talk-1300 radio show this morning.

But the larger point is right, said Long, who is also an advisor to Romney on legal issues.

“I think it’s a reflection that Obama really does want to create a culture of dependency,” she said. “I don’t believe that the people in the 47 percent want to be there.”

The leaked YouTube video shows Romney speaking to a group of wealthy donors suggesting that nearly half the country doesn’t pay federal income taxes and relies on government assistance. Romney is shown saying he doesn’t expect to win these voters, instead he’s focused on the “thoughtful” independent voters in the political center.

Long compared the moment to when President Obama told donors in 2008 that there’s a segment of populace that “cling to their guns and religion.”

Long, meanwhile, defended her position in the polls, which show her losing in a landslide should the election be held today. Long called them inaccurate, saying that her internal surveys show something “different.”

“I think people are going to wake up in the next 50 something days and realize we’re on the wrong track in this country,” she said. “I can’t control the polls. All I can do is fight for what I believe is right and I think the people are going to listen.”

Long blasted Gillibrand for an error on her tax returns, though she has not released any of her tax documents herself. Long told Dicker she’ll be doing that in the coming days.

Share|