How much are the House Republicans to blame for Romney's situation?

[retromike22]

That is, concerning their behavior since they controlled the House, such as the debt ceiling event. I think they helped lower the approval of the Republican Party enough so that some people are less likely to vote for Romney simply because he is a member of the same party.

[Yank2133]

The party in general is the problem, not just the house

Romney is a lousy candiate and has ran a lackluster campaign.  But a big reason why he has to be vague is do to the fact GOP policies aren't that popular at the moment.

It is hard to run on tax cuts for the wealthy, more deregulation etc.

[Stranger in a strange land]

It's a major reason, though not the only one or even the main one. Romney's own weakness as a candidate is the single biggest reason that he's in the hole he's in.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The party way, way misunderstood their 2010 mandate. It was a massive protest vote... and their agenda was focused on the wrong things.

[Likely Voter]

The GOP has been disillusioning blacks, hispanics, gays, young voters and educated and single white women...and Romney jumped into that pool during the primaries and got painted with the same brush. You may be able to win a primary or a midterm with the olds and white men, but not a general election and he is learning that now.

[ChrisFromNJ]

It's not so much the House Republicans, but their constituents. Their constituents get their marching orders from talk radio and the Koch Brothers, and they hold their representatives feet to the fire if they don't toe the talk radio line. If you want to blame anybody for the current state of the GOP, blame Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, etc. They are the true power brokers of the Republican Party.

[Wisconsin+17]

Uh, so let's see.

GOP runs on tea party conservativism, they kick ass and win seats.

Then they run on moderate republicanism and they lose.

Damn, guess we should blame the successful election winners for losing this time around. Hello!

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

2010 was a protest election... the TP candidates did well on the local level - but the worst of the TP moth-breathers who ran at the state level, lost. They also ran on vague platitudes, plus people liked hearing about stuff being cut... but weren't too keen when it was their stuff.

[Wisconsin+17]

Wouldn't that suggest that running as a conservative actually helps you in the republican party?

[ChrisFromNJ]

Wouldn't that suggest that running as a conservative actually helps you in the republican party?

Romney is running an extremely conservative campaign - and, up to this point, he is losing.

It depends on the electorate, the time period and the candidates.