“Romney is now a toxic asset to unload”
Romney is being erased with record speed from his party’s books for three reasons. First, many Republicans backed him because they thought he had a good chance of winning; that appeal, obviously, is gone. Second, Romney had shallow roots, and few friends, in the national Republican Party. And those shallow roots have allowed Republicans to give him a new role: As a sort of bad partisan bank, freighted with all the generational positions and postures that they are looking to dump…
There is an irony that Romney, the moderate, will be forced to carry off Todd Akin’s baggage on reproductive rights; Joe Arpaio’s on immigration; and James Dobson on gay rights. But when he cast popular policies as “gifts” to Obama voters (ignoring both his and Obama’s expensive promises to older voters), his decision to, as Bobby Jindal put it, “insult” the demographic groups who are a larger part of each successive electorate offered the Republicans the pivot they had been looking for toward presenting a younger, more diverse, and more inclusive party.
Now Romney’s own party will gladly let him, and his reputation, carry off the values for which he is only now, for the first time, really the spokesman.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
Yep, republicans always are the first to eat their own. Pathetic party, really.
KickandSwimMom on November 17, 2012 at 7:22 PM
Oh, come on, HA! Enough with this crap!
Blake on November 17, 2012 at 7:23 PM
No. All post elcetion naval gazing must be posted. Hits ya know. But, Buzz Feed. OH, COME ON!!
(Wonder if someone, somewhere has something nice to say about the guy that almost won.)
bluealice on November 17, 2012 at 7:29 PM
Toxic asset?
I would say the same about the Republican Party. Romney ran exactly the campaign that leaders in the GOP have said for years that we needed to run. His loss proves their stupidity.
And let’s not forget the fraud. I’ll never forget that I watched an election stolen right efore my eyes.
sartana on November 17, 2012 at 7:29 PM
I guess it’s good to know that “conservatives” will only sell out their principles and support a total fraud if they think he has a good chance at winning.
Armin Tamzarian on November 17, 2012 at 7:29 PM
Does anyone honestly think America will last to 2050? Why should I care about the future of the GOP?
ninjapirate on November 17, 2012 at 7:30 PM
Around 75% of primary voters wanted someone other than Romney. They spent months running from one candidate to the other hoping and praying that it wouldn’t be Romney.
Romney was toxic from the beginning.
sharrukin on November 17, 2012 at 7:33 PM
May your pastures be green, Mr. Romney.
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on November 17, 2012 at 7:36 PM
BuzzFeed is toxic year round…
d1carter on November 17, 2012 at 7:37 PM
Hot
AirMessTed Torgerson on November 17, 2012 at 7:38 PM
Bullseye.
Kataklysmic on November 17, 2012 at 7:41 PM
It’s embarrassing.
I’m ashamed at the way Romney’s been attacked by some people. These people would have been the first to kiss his butt if he had won.
gophergirl on November 17, 2012 at 7:44 PM
Fixed it – bad bad grammar.
gophergirl on November 17, 2012 at 7:45 PM
And the beating of the dead horse continues.
JPeterman on November 17, 2012 at 7:47 PM
mittens didn’t deserve the gop nom. ….good riddance!
Pragmatic on November 17, 2012 at 7:54 PM
Toxic Asset is the Secret Service code name for POTUS.
platypus on November 17, 2012 at 7:54 PM
His defeat unfortunately doesn’t afford any clear lessons to Republicans as such. He ran what seemed like a decent campaign. He tried with reasonable alacrity to appease the base, however little it may have liked him. He was polite yet reasonably and consistently self-assertive. He chose a well-regarded running mate. Yet millions of voters, not at all necessarily “true conservatives,” who plainly disdained his opponent, couldn’t be bothered to cast ballots at all.
I’m tempted just to suggest that the national Republican Party take a very long vacation. It doesn’t seem as if it would be greatly missed.
Seth Halpern on November 17, 2012 at 7:55 PM
Amen. He should walk away and become even more wealthy. Screw ‘em.
bluealice on November 17, 2012 at 7:57 PM
Does anybody allow the possibility that the elections results are not accurate? Seems to me that a whole bunch of Romney votes in the swing states were misplaced.
platypus on November 17, 2012 at 8:00 PM
His whole “gifts” remark was right on target, and it’s pathetic to hear all these GOPers run from it when they know it’s true. Obama’s evolution on same sex marriage, the EO on the Dream Act, etc…all designed to buy off blocs of voters and energize his base. They know it, we know it, and denying otherwise is just stupid. Was that the only reason Romney lost? No, but it helped.
Romney wasn’t the perfect candidate, and he didn’t run the perfect campaign. But he stepped up when a whole lot of these same Republicans stayed on the sideline, and he was the best of an extremely weak crop. The problem wasn’t Romney’s alone…we have an electorate that is slowly moving leftward on social issues, we have an entertainment culture that completely embraces the prog agenda, we have a media that is completely in bed with the opposition, and we faced a candidate who got a pass on everything because of his skin color. The GOP can throw Romney under the bus all they want, but he’s not in office now and won’t be running for anything again, but the other much more substantial issues will remain.
changer1701 on November 17, 2012 at 8:00 PM
He only lost by less than 5 points. Democrats got the black vote to turn out in droves for Obama and this is why Romney lost. If not for that Romney would have won. Democrats lose without Obama on the ballot just like they did in 2010. Obama is done running for office. Republicans need to chill out. They don’t need to change their core principals and turn into liberals. The pendulum will swing back. Stop over reacting, stop listening to a bunch of liberals hell bent on destroying the country, damn!
Dollayo on November 17, 2012 at 8:03 PM
Paula Broadwell, David Petraeus, hot sex and the bimbo Kelley broad………..hey look over there.
How convenient/
JPeterman on November 17, 2012 at 8:03 PM
Pathetic.
O.K. Poindexters….Romney’s “Toxicity” is “unloaded”.
What ya got??..what am I looking at? Describe it to me. Not some fantasy hopey-changy crap, but reality…what ya got? Point your finger.
Let me guess. Leftist-lite…a gay couple with a joint in one hand and Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History” in the other?
Mimzey on November 17, 2012 at 8:06 PM
While it disgusts me the way the party elites seem to be eager to trash Mitt publicly, the sad truth is he’s of no further value after losing the election. He’ll never run for elected office again. He doesn’t have any deep ties to any particular segment of the Republican base. And he’s tarnished as a failed Presidential candidate in what many feel was a winnable race.
I’d be surprised if he even gets a speaking slot at the 2016 convention.
Doughboy on November 17, 2012 at 8:10 PM
It’s just sick. I know some of us here kicked and screamed with the inevitability of Mitt, but once we got to know him he turned out to be a kindred spirit who is generous, loving, a pillar of his community, his family, and is successful.
Romney would have made a fine president and he doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment from the hacks and those quick to pry the ring of his finger and declare themself heir.
Punchenko on November 17, 2012 at 8:11 PM
Hogwash. Bobby Jindal should have politely stayed out of this.
Here we go.. lets not offend anyone. Lets not be divisive. Yeah, that”s what Arlan Spector always said around Pennsylvania. “Lets not be divisive.” Was it divisive when the Republican party became the abolition party? Was the Declaration of Independence divisive?
I heard the Chris Christie said the same stupid thing today.
We need a little more divisiveness around here. We need some clear lines drawn.
JellyToast on November 17, 2012 at 8:13 PM
I’m sure the Democrats said the same in ’88 when Reagan was no longer on the ballot and the wimpy, lying George H.W. Bush took the reigns and forever drove our party into the ground.
Punchenko on November 17, 2012 at 8:14 PM
Hallelujah!
Punchenko on November 17, 2012 at 8:15 PM
These GOP leaders are starting to bug me.
lynncgb on November 17, 2012 at 8:16 PM
The most disingenuous aspect of this Buzzfeed article is the fact that the “toxic asset” quote comes from…none other than Jack Bohrer, the volubly liberal, anti-Romney ‘historian’ with no ties whatsoever to the GOP or conservatism.
You might as well quote Nancy Pelosi opining on the conservative movement for the same level of non-partisan, detached analysis.
Esoteric on November 17, 2012 at 8:18 PM
I would hope that he will have other pressing engagements to attend than accept an invitation from those who seem to feel it’s fun to kick the man when he’s down.
Why would any respectable human being want to run for office knowing they’ll be trashed by their fellow Republican’s should they lose?
JPeterman on November 17, 2012 at 8:19 PM
Hear, hear. This is exactly right. It’s particularly galling that the GOP’s public figures are excoriating Mitt for making the very same argument that Rush and people like us here in the base — all way across our spectrum, from the far-right to the moderate side — have been making about Obama for years now. Namely, that he bought off various Obama-friendly demographics with gifts (from gay marriage to the DREAM act to free contraception to killing the Keystone pipeline to student loan promises) to slog his way to victory, as opposed to articulating an actual governing vision.
Ironically enough, the one guy who’s been the classiest about this is…Chris Christie, who came out and said “c’mon people, let’s not burn the guy alive for this, stop overreacting.” Not like it lessens my anger at him one iota (and I was a drooling fanboy of his more or less up until that moment).
Esoteric on November 17, 2012 at 8:23 PM
Look I think much of this criticism is unfair and sometimes even cowardly. On the other hand: what did Willard expect? The truth is that he was more than willing to trash the party when he thought it useful in Massachusetts. I have not forgotten how Willard tried desperately in the past to seperate himself from the Republican Party. Loyalty is a two way street.
Valkyriepundit on November 17, 2012 at 8:28 PM
Exactly. But this GOP seems more inclined to tuck tail, wring their hands over not offending this or that group with the truth. Obama did buy off those voters…everyone said as much when he made each of those moves. They said he had to do that, given the economy. Now though, Romney states the obvious and they can’t deny it fast enough. Anyone have any confidence they’ll really take it to the Left? I don’t.
changer1701 on November 17, 2012 at 8:29 PM
EXACTLY!
gophergirl on November 17, 2012 at 8:35 PM
We didn’t deserve him! /
Can.I.be.in.the.middle on November 17, 2012 at 8:42 PM
Forever drove our party into the ground? Hello, you mean before GW Bush won 2 decisive victories? Before the huge wins in congress by republicans in 2002, when W cautioned republicans to “not gloat”. Before the huge wins of most of the tea party candidates in 2010? Forever into the ground? Oh yeah, great analysis there Punchenko!
Dollayo on November 17, 2012 at 8:43 PM
I imagine him and his wife sailing peacefully over the horizon…All the world’s an ocean for a man with a sturdy boat!
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on November 17, 2012 at 8:46 PM
I totally agree! Mitt and his family are nice people! I wish them nothing but great fortune.. I just don’t want him running for President again.. neither for us nor for the Democrat party.
JellyToast on November 17, 2012 at 8:58 PM
I didn’t support Romney in the primary and had lukewarm support of him once he became the nominee. What is really grating me though is that I agree with Romney on the very things the republican establishment is now excoriating him for, for example, his comments about “gifts” to voting blocks. I’m really becoming convinced that the Republican Party is not for me. They seem more concerned about finding a way to get back into power than putting forth a real conservative vision for this country.
KickandSwimMom on November 17, 2012 at 9:01 PM
I feel certain that this was his last hurrah. And his wife, with MS, doesn’t need the stress. They’ll have a fine retirement and lots of grandkids to spend it with! Well deserved.
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on November 17, 2012 at 9:07 PM
And lots and lots of money
JPeterman on November 17, 2012 at 9:15 PM
Indeedy!
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on November 17, 2012 at 9:19 PM
Agree whole heartedly. I was not a fan, but saw the goodness in him. That’s probably the problem, you can’t be nice and decent and win. I hope he has a wonderful life with his family. Let someone else get gored.
wi farmgirl on November 17, 2012 at 9:22 PM
So why exactly did so many people think that?
ddrintn on November 17, 2012 at 9:23 PM
I thought while he did not have every thing I wanted was a fine man with a great record for business, family and moral compass.
Romney or Obama… I do not hesitate on choice and neither should anyone who is a conservative.
Now let the taxing us to death begin…
Tilly on November 17, 2012 at 9:24 PM
Yeah, I’m not so much into letting BuzzFeed Ben Smith stir the GOP pot…
Robert_Paulson on November 17, 2012 at 9:25 PM
Shows how much your opinion of potential Republican candidates should be worth to anyone who wants the United States to return to prosperity once more. Hint, your opinion’s value is as valuable as your conservativeness.
astonerii on November 17, 2012 at 9:26 PM
Glad to see you’re finally coming around on Palin.
alwaysfiredup on November 17, 2012 at 9:35 PM
Wait, what?
Akin? Probably the all-time worst candidate. For his arrogance, I hope he comes to a bad end. He cost us Missouri and hurt Romney and other Republicans around the country.
But Arpaio’s merely enforcing the law in an impossible location to protect his fellow Arizonians.
And Dobson? I don’t see the equal-protection claim that some do. How can you analogize behavior (high-risk sexual conduct) with immutable characteristics (race and gender) and belief (creed)?
BuckeyeSam on November 17, 2012 at 9:35 PM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »