Mr. Romney’s outreach in 2008 was more apparent. At the 20th anniversary party for Mr. Limbaugh’s radio show, he sat with the radio host. He visited the Manhattan offices of Rupert Murdoch at least twice.
But four years later, he is elusive to many.
Andrea Tantaros, co-host of “The Five” on Fox News, said she was surprised the Romney campaign has not tried to push back against some of the more withering criticisms that commentators make every day on cable television and online.
In 2008, Ms. Tantaros could expect a phone call from an irritated Romney adviser if she made critical comments about him. But now, the silence is noticeable, she said.
And if anyone would receive an angry phone call from the Romney campaign, it would be Ms. Tantaros. She served as a communications director for William F. Weld, the former Massachusetts governor whose political strategists now work for Mr. Romney.
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