Republicans hit Mitt but don’t say why they should lead
In addition to Weber, some of Romney’s aides remain defiant. One Romney adviser attributed much of the Republican criticism to what he believes is the continued wrong-headedness of the GOP pundit class who criticized Romney for the last couple of years. Many spent a long time casting doubt on Romney’s bona fides.
“Yet he went out and won the nomination,” wrote the aide in an email exchange. “Without putting in a dime of his own money. How did he do it? Well, more than anything there were the [primary season] debates. The debates proved that Romney was the most appealing Republican in the crowd. Appealing to VOTERS. Republican voters.”
“So I would be very hesitant,” the aide continued, “to believe that suddenly those who are criticizing Mitt Romney now are any more right than those who did for much of the last year and a half.”
Blowback
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Blah, blah, blah. And so let history reflect that the Republican machine carried on bloviating even it as it became ever more clearly irrelevant.
cynccook on November 20, 2012 at 8:13 PM
Because it’s become fashionable to beat dead horses and to kick good people when they are down.
JPeterman on November 20, 2012 at 8:28 PM
The other Republicans right now are using Romney as sort of a “political Jesus”. It is as if Romney died for all their political sins, or something. They are heaping onto Romney all of their various baggage hoping that it will just absolve them of their own problems.
There are some things that most of these knuckleheads are never going to get: It doesn’t matter how perfect a Republican’s messaging is, nobody is ever going to hear it unless you see it. The news media are not going to carry it. What you ARE going to hear is commentary from Democrats about that messaging which will twist, distort, and outright lie about it. You will hear “GOP means ‘Get Out of our Panties’” on the TV but you will never hear that actual message of the Republican candidate unless he makes a gaffe.
The fact is, the Republicans do not have a reliable communications vehicle to the people. The news media are going to spike, distort, and lie about that message. It isn’t going to matter if a candidate has the best message since the Gospel, nobody is going to hear it.
Romney was right in that dinner when he said his job was to get out a message and the job of the press was to make sure nobody hears it. That is EXACTLY what is going on.
crosspatch on November 20, 2012 at 8:31 PM
Also it buys time from having to confront ugly realities.
cynccook on November 20, 2012 at 8:31 PM
All most people heard about the Republican message was what prominent Democrat pundits were saying about it.
crosspatch on November 20, 2012 at 8:33 PM
I emphatically did not support Romney during the primary.
However, I do give him credit for flat-out out-working the conservatives in the field and earning a victory the hard way. Romney and his team deserve full credit for that.
For reasons I cannot fathom, conservatives have a really tough time coalescing behind a single conservative candidate.
Had conservatives in 2008 or 2012 locked arms behind a single conservative candidate and pushed them through the process against the media and the party establishment, we just might have a different president today. Instead, conservatives either whine from the sidelines or waste time on quixotic pursuits of their most favoritest, specialest, bestest flavor of conservative candidate possible. Thus, we conservatives end up divided, and the liberals, moderates, and quislings conquer.
Robert_Paulson on November 20, 2012 at 8:46 PM
Yep
gophergirl on November 20, 2012 at 8:48 PM
Romney advisors need to look in the mirror. What goes around, comes around. Romney and his aides have not been known for trying to win friends. Neither have their most ardent supporters.
INC on November 20, 2012 at 8:57 PM
Romney was exactly the skill set we needed exactly when we needed it. People do not want good governance, they want a good marketing campaign. I hear all this moaning about his campaign and about his messaging … well, he’s not a professional politician. He’s a business man. What people are saying is that they WANT professional politicians when on the other hand they say they can’t stand professional politicians. Makes no sense.
crosspatch on November 20, 2012 at 9:15 PM
…according to pundits like you.
The journalists chase repubicans around and say outrageous things until they can get a sound bite, an “Um” a wink a nod? And then they say republicans are running from Mitt.
The media is trying to help the Obama campaign shape a mindset that Obama is right and traditional Americans should shut up. Again.
Mitt’s campaign was the best of America. Try to make that in your state.
Fleuries on November 20, 2012 at 9:53 PM
Well, the skill set should’ve been more apparent in an efficently run campaign.
To paraphrase Gingrich, Romney wasn’t a professional politician only because he lost too many elections. It wasn’t for lack of trying.
ddrintn on November 20, 2012 at 9:58 PM