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I have a lot of respect for Leo Gerard, and now I have even more. Good for the steelworkers -- they gave Scott Prouty a union job!

WASHINGTON -- Now that he's gone public, Scott Prouty, the man behind the infamous "47 percent" video of Mitt Romney's remarks at a Florida fundraiser, has been in talks to work for the United Steelworkers union in a role that's yet to be determined, the head of the union told HuffPost on Thursday.

Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said the union met Prouty through Charles Kernaghan, a labor rights activist who heads the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, headquartered in Pittsburgh. Prouty had gotten in touch with Kernaghan, who'd been researching Bain Capital and outsourcing as Prouty anonymously disseminated his video last year. Gerard said that union officials met with Prouty at the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., in January, before the videographer was willing to go public.

Gerard explained his respect for Prouty, paraphrasing a quote from President Barack Obama that one voice can change a room, that room a city, that city a state, and so on. "I think Scott Prouty is one voice that changed the country," Gerard said.

"He's going to come work for us," Gerard went on. "We're going to sit down and talk. He has lots of skills, and we'll try to put him in a place where he can use the skills he's got."

Prouty said in a brief phone call with HuffPost Thursday that he intends to take the job. "I'd be honored to be involved with them. I think they're awesome people," he said of the union. "There's a good possibility it will work out."

In addition to putting him to work, Gerard said the union will protect Prouty, given his new and overwhelming exposure. "No one's gonna mess with him," Gerard said.

As the final 2012 vote tallies come in from all over the country, it's clear that Barack Obama didn't just squeak by, but will win by over three percentage points, leaving Mitt Romney with 47 percent of the popular vote.

Yes, Mitt was prophetic about that 47 percent. He just gave them to the wrong guy.

Here are some other stats that might be worth remembering and reminding Democrats in Congress about every time they start wavering on grand bargains. Via The Nation:

1. Barack Obama has won an overwhelming majority in the Electoral College, a daunting majority of the popular vote and a majority of the nation’s states—including most of the country’s largest states and states in every major region of the republic: New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes, the South, the Southwest, the Mountain West and the West.

2. Barack Obama has won more popular votes than any Democratic candidate for president in history—except Barack Obama in 2008.

3. Barack Obama is the first Democratic president to win more than 50 percent of the popular vote in a re-election run since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944.

4. Barack Obama is the only Democratic candidate for president since FDR to twice win more than 50 percent of the national vote.

5. Barack Obama has, in both of his presidential runs, won a higher percentage of the national vote than any Democratic nominee since Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory.

Mandate much? As for those 47 percent who either voted against their own interests or simply are selfish, antisocial people, they can look to their billionaires for solace.

47 percent it was, Mitt. You built that.

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After the first debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, there were many sighs and groans over the fact that the president did not hit hard on Mitt's 47 percent remarks. Sometimes, timing is everything.

The last question of last night's debate was this: What misconception does the public have about you, and give examples of why they're wrong. Mitt played this perfectly, painting himself as the compassionate, churchgoing man who was just a victim of mean Barack and his personal attacks. He spent a lot of time trying to convince the audience that he was a good man because he had faith in God, and he cared about everyone.

Obama's response began with a direct answer: that he's been painted as a guy who sees government as the answer to everything. But after about 40 seconds, he paused, and pivoted. Here's what he said:

I believe Governor Romney is a good man. Loves his family, cares about his faith. But I also believe that when he said behind closed doors that 47 percent of the country considered themselves victims who refuse personal responsibility, think about who he was talking about.

Folks on Social Security who've worked all their lives. Veterans who've sacrificed for this country. Students who are out there trying to hopefully advance their own dreams, but also this country's dreams. Soldiers who are overseas fighting for us right now. People who are working hard every day, paying payroll tax, gas taxes, but don't make enough income.

And I want to fight for them. That's what I've been doing for the last four years. Because if they succeed, I believe the country succeeds.

When my grandfather fought in World War II and he came back and he got a G.I. Bill and that allowed him to go to college, that wasn't a handout. That was something that advanced the entire country. And I want to make sure that the next generation has those same opportunities. That's why I'm asking for your vote and that's why I'm asking for another four years.

And on that note, Barack Obama closed the debate with the very last word, leaving the term 47 percent ringing in his audience's ears. It was a devasting, understated and effective close.

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The Romney campaign is really flailing now. As they try desperately to spin Romney's candid remarks at a Boca Raton fundraiser, they're trying to wish away Willard's stark judgments on people who don't fit his likely voter profile. From Wednesday's op-ed:

Government has a role to play here. Right now, our nation's citizens do need help from government. But it is a very different kind of help than what President Obama wants to provide.

My experience has taught me that government works best when it creates the space for individuals and families to pursue success and achieve great things. Economic freedom is the only force that has consistently succeeded in creating sustained prosperity and lifting people out of poverty. It is why our economy rose to rival those of the world's leading powers -- and has long since surpassed them all.

The dreamers and the entrepreneurs, not government, built this economy, and they can once again make it strong.

My course for the American economy will encourage private investment and personal freedom. Instead of creating a web of dependency, I will pursue policies that grow our economy and lift Americans out of poverty.

Oh, how nice. The problem is, some of those entrepreneurs and dreamers are part of the group that pays no income taxes, though they do pay payroll taxes. Part of the group he sneered at. More to the point, this does not change his personal judgment of people (call them Democrats, veterans, seniors, and students) who are in that 47 percent bloc:

All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.

Romney went far beyond policy differences into personal attacks on people who simply do not deserve such a blanket condemnation, and that is what will stick. They can be lofty about how opportunities will overcome disabilities, lack of health care, food and housing, but the bottom line is that Mitt Romney does not believe he deserves it.

These videos were Mitt's George Romney moment. As I wrote when he was being hit hard on his Bain involvement, he won't let it go. I fully expect him to start throwing whatever he can out there, no matter how negative, how false, or how wrong it is. He can't. As I wrote back then:

Romney internalized the wrong lesson from his father's failure and as a result, he absolutely cannot tell the truth no matter what because he fears the truth will cause him to fail, and failure is not an acceptable outcome. This is why, by the way, he has no problem using the politics of destruction on his rivals. It's always better to destroy them than to be accountable for one's own decisions. This is a character flaw and it's a big one.

With the assistance of Fox News, Romney will use the next few weeks and his wealthy donors to throw low blows, while suppressing the vote. It should be a wild ride.