Why Republicans Want Mitt Romney To Go Away

[wan]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/why-republicans-want-to-make-mitt-romney-go-away

Posted Nov 17, 2012 10:09am EST
Ten days after at least some Republicans were surprised to see Mitt Romney lose the presidency, the candidate is gone without a trace.
There appears to be no Romney Republicanism to propagate. No Romney strategy to emulate. No Romney technology to ape. No generation shaped by his failed effort. And no Romney infrastructure to inherit, though he may still be asked to write and bundle quite a few checks. Romney's bewildering post-election explanations of his defeat — Obama, he said, had bought off Americans — drew almost universal condemnation from leaders of his party, but the comments were more excuse than cause; party figures from Ari Fleischer to Bobby Jindal appeared to be waiting to kick Romney to the side of the road. The candidate did them a favor when he complained that Democrats had simply bought off young people and minority voters, a churlish line that erased any lingering Republican affinity for him as, when all else failed, a good-hearted guy.
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.
"Romney is now a toxic asset to unload," the historian Jack Bohrer remarked Saturday. "The only interesting thing left to his story is how they dispose of him."
The simplest reason for Romney's quick fade-out is that his central promise was that he could win. He delivered immense fund-raising prowess and ideological flexibility. He was never going to win partisan hearts like the two iconic, beloved losers of his father's generation, Barry Goldwater and George McGovern.
"This is ever the sad fate of the 'electability' candidate who fails to get elected," tweeted Red State editor Dan McLaughlin.
But other electability candidates have not been subject to the sort of forced amnesia already washing over Romney. John Kerry and John McCain both faced, perhaps, even more bitter recriminations on questions of tactics and strategy from inside their parties — but they returned to important Senate roles, positions of respect in Washington and in their parties, and Kerry may join the next Cabinet.
Other losers can draw, similarly, on deep wells of loyalty at high levels of the party structure. Bob Dole and Walter Mondale got crushed by the last two-term incumbents to serve two terms. They faded fast from the American public imagination, too. But they also retook their seats on the party dais. Mondale, a former vice president with deep ties to a key constituency, organized labor, became his party's Senate nominee after Paul Wellstone died in 2002. Dole, a beloved war hero and longtime party soldier, received the Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton in 1997, and was appointed by George W. Bush to chair a commission a decade later.
Romney was a party outsider who bought his way in. The campaigns he came up working for — his father's — operated in the essentially defunct moderate Republican tradition he abandoned, though a few of its stragglers staffed his headquarters in...Boston. Much of his inner circle consisted of people whose loyalty was to Romney, not to his party or even his platform; that was also true of his most enthusiastic volunteers.
Now Republicans don't even seem to want to pile on Romney. Karl Rove and the superPAC infrastructure have absorbed as much disgust from donors and activists as Romney's campaign, which found a message in the fall after a dismal summer. Recriminations, such as they are, have focused on the collapse of a glorified digital list called Orca. Republicans just want to forget Romney.
That's because many of the Republican Party's leaders are, in fact, eager to change. Parties and politicians pivot faster than their friends or enemies ever imagine, and the Republican Party of Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio is pivoting very fast. And for all the reasons that Romney is easy for Republicans to forget, he offers them the ideal sacrifice. Conservatives were always too fond of Barry Goldwater to write him off as the "extremist" Democrats successfully cast him as; they never liked Mitt Romney anyway, and will gladly remember him for his most odious comments.
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's 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.

[Ronnie]

Simply put:

Republicans need a scapegoat.  And that scapegoat is Romney.

[Indy Texas]

It's hard to think of a presidential candidate more disliked, less trusted by his own party, less respected by the American voters as a whole, than Mitt Romney.

He's a very intelligent, accomplished man. That doesn't change the fact that he may be one of the most craven, ingenuous people to get as far as he did in politics (and that really is saying something). No core, no compass, no backbone.

[ajb]

"the 'electability' candidate who fails to get elected"

Kind of sums it all up.

[Blue3]

Simply put:

Republicans need a scapegoat.  And that scapegoat is Romney.

Not a scapegoat. Romney really does deserve a lot of the blame. It's healthy for Republicans to actively distance themselves from him. Maybe they'll even learn from some of his mistakes.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I sure understand why Republicans want to forget about Romney as soon as possible.

However, they shouldn't think that all their electoral problems come from a bad candidate, because it's clear they have much deeper issues to fix.

[Napoleon]

Sure, the electability candidate lost. But we must ask the question- why was Romney, of all people, the most electable candidate? The Republican Party is filled with lunatics, crazies, and morons. Until that changes, blaming Romney does not help them one bit. 2016 will roll around and the base will have the same demands.

[opebo]

Sure, the electability candidate lost. But we must ask the question- why was Romney, of all people, the most electable candidate? The Republican Party is filled with lunatics, crazies, and morons. Until that changes, blaming Romney does not help them one bit. 2016 will roll around and the base will have the same demands.

Precisely!  When you try to put on a mask, it looks like a mask, not a 'real person' - thus you get Romney.  He looks less scary than the Tea Party (or the 'real Americans' when they let their hair down with no cameras or non-whites around) but a mask is still creepy.

[heatmaster]

How predictable, how noxious and yes craven, isn't always easy to fall in line with the flock, whatever Romney's faults, they were also the faults of the party he led, the party who readily embraced him when there was sunshine; it's so easy to kick someone when they are down, to throw Romney under the bus...takes very little genius, morons do such things: so spare the readers of this forum, such wasteful sophistry; Romney would have been the toast of the party had he won, and the fact that Newt Gingrich and Bobby Jindal are quick to disown Romney, when it suits them, where was this moral outrage during the primaries, then it was time to stand up and be counted, but no! Jindal didn't have the guts or back-bone, neither did Gingrich; like good Republicans they towed the party-line like true hacks, because they thought there was a winning strategy, they mimicked Romney; instead of carping about Romney's sins; they should absorb and learn that what Romney was saying, was an unpleasant truth, but at least he had the back-bone to state a simple truth, Obama misled and simply "bought" his coalition for whatever political "thirty pieces" of silver; he bought seniors with Obamacare and the voters of Ohio and Michigan with the "auto-bailout" and bought the voters of Virginia, by lying about the huge military lay-offs, particularly at the Navy base at Newport News, so throwing the baby out with the bath-water and pretending something that isn't is, makes Romney's observation more telling for it's clarity.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So enacting good policies that positively affect people's lives = "buying" votes, according to Republican logic.

[heatmaster]

And Democratic logic, is redistributing "spreading" the wealth to make people more dependent on entitlements, increasing everybody's taxes = improving everybody's life, how profoundly socialist, but explaining to a Democrat the concept of becoming less reliant on government hand-outs and being able to earn a living and maybe if you have the initiative to start a business, is like trying to teach mandarin Chinese to a goat, it any gonna happen; the idea of self-reliance is so abhorrent to your world-view, it would be proper and fitting to get a job as a "community organizer", learn to give good speeches and preach the tripe that the anointed one has continuously preached for the last five or more years, maybe you to can become president. Where is the refrain uttered by JFK?, "Ask Not what your country can do for you, Ask what you can do for your country", it seems to have been replaced of an awful lot of "Ask not what I can do for my country, but what my country is expected to do for me" .....yeah gimme stuff, and I'll vote for you, Obama "right on dude...I'm there for you...I'll just let the rich folks pay the tab, and if not, just run up a $16 trillion debt...because I'm cool and like to hang out with the dim witted hollywood celebs...who really like dig my crap"

[Franzl]

And you're really European?

[Donerail]

Hey, hey, Heatmaster? Wan? The election is over. Y'all are supposed to go into hibernation now. We'll make sure to wake you up in about 4 years. Two if you want to catch the midterms. Goodbye!

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

We'll make sure to wake you up in about 4 years.

Let's not, and say we did.

[wan]

Hey, hey, Heatmaster? Wan? The election is over. Y'all are supposed to go into hibernation now. We'll make sure to wake you up in about 4 years. Two if you want to catch the midterms. Goodbye!

Hey troll the only ones who are suppose to go into hibernation are the ones who lost. You notice a lot of the losers missing right? My party one the senate and the white house so i am still having fun and laughing at all the people who kept saying Obama would be a one term president like carter. Looks like we got the last laugh.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

Hey, hey, Heatmaster? Wan? The election is over. Y'all are supposed to go into hibernation now. We'll make sure to wake you up in about 4 years. Two if you want to catch the midterms. Goodbye!

Hey troll the only ones who are suppose to go into hibernation are the ones who lost. You notice a lot of the losers missing right? My party one the senate and the white house so i am still having fun and laughing at all the people who kept saying Obama would be a one term president like carter. Looks like we got the last laugh.

You, Mr wan, are not in a position to be calling anyone a troll, particularly a coherent and principled member (who is also, for the record, a Democrat -- it might help if you actually knew what you were talking about) who has over fifteen times as many posts as you do.
You do realize, by the way, that your idea of all the right-wingers having to stop posting would be an unmitigated disaster for the forum, right?

[heatmaster]

The last laugh for what? Heard that second-term president's have a crappy time of it, look at Woodrow Wilson...world war one....league of nations...prohibition...stroke; FDR...court packing scheme...recession; Ike...Sputnik...Little Rock...Stroke....Recession...Sherman Adams Vicuna Coat scandal...U2 spy scandal; Nixon...Watergate...Yom Kippur War...Resignation; Reagan...Iran-Contra; Clinton...Monica Lewinsky blow-job scandal...Impeachment; Dubya...Hurricane Katrina...Harriet Miers...Wall Street meltdown...Obama election; so Obama's second term should be a real doozy...you know last laugh territory...Benghazi...hearings...getting the giggles...then there is the fiscal cliff....David Petraeus affair...the laughter is bubbling and we Republicans will do to Obama, what we did to Bubba and you Democrats did to Nixon and Reagan...so enjoy the fun...it will be a laugh a minute.
No intention going into hibernation....sticking around to annoy Democrats & those sympathetic to Obama...also want to get 1,000 on the amount of times I submit to the forum, should be fun & get used to it baby.

[King]

The last laugh for what? Heard that second-term president's have a crappy time of it, look at Woodrow Wilson...world war one....league of nations...prohibition...stroke; FDR...court packing scheme...recession; Ike...Sputnik...Little Rock...Stroke....Recession...Sherman Adams Vicuna Coat scandal...U2 spy scandal; Nixon...Watergate...Yom Kippur War...Resignation; Reagan...Iran-Contra; Clinton...Monica Lewinsky blow-job scandal...Impeachment; Dubya...Hurricane Katrina...Harriet Miers...Wall Street meltdown...Obama election; so Obama's second term should be a real doozy...you know last laugh territory...Benghazi...hearings...getting the giggles...then there is the fiscal cliff....David Petraeus affair...the laughter is bubbling and we Republicans will do to Obama, what we did to Bubba and you Democrats did to Nixon and Reagan...so enjoy the fun...it will be a laugh a minute.
No intention going into hibernation....sticking around to annoy Democrats & those sympathetic to Obama...also want to get 1,000 on the amount of times I submit to the forum, should be fun & get used to it baby.

I...for...one...am...thrilled.

[Hash]

The last laugh for what? Heard that second-term president's have a crappy time of it, look at Woodrow Wilson...world war one....league of nations...prohibition...stroke; FDR...court packing scheme...recession; Ike...Sputnik...Little Rock...Stroke....Recession...Sherman Adams Vicuna Coat scandal...U2 spy scandal; Nixon...Watergate...Yom Kippur War...Resignation; Reagan...Iran-Contra; Clinton...Monica Lewinsky blow-job scandal...Impeachment; Dubya...Hurricane Katrina...Harriet Miers...Wall Street meltdown...Obama election; so Obama's second term should be a real doozy...you know last laugh territory...Benghazi...hearings...getting the giggles...then there is the fiscal cliff....David Petraeus affair...the laughter is bubbling and we Republicans will do to Obama, what we did to Bubba and you Democrats did to Nixon and Reagan...so enjoy the fun...it will be a laugh a minute.
No intention going into hibernation....sticking around to annoy Democrats & those sympathetic to Obama...also want to get 1,000 on the amount of times I submit to the forum, should be fun & get used to it baby.

What are you on?

[Donerail]

Hey, hey, Heatmaster? Wan? The election is over. Y'all are supposed to go into hibernation now. We'll make sure to wake you up in about 4 years. Two if you want to catch the midterms. Goodbye!

Hey troll the only ones who are suppose to go into hibernation are the ones who lost. You notice a lot of the losers missing right? My party one the senate and the white house so i am still having fun and laughing at all the people who kept saying Obama would be a one term president like carter. Looks like we got the last laugh.

Yeah, there was a 10-day grace period for gloating. I believe that has expired. And my party won the Senate, picked up several House seats from certain undesirables (Rivera, West, et al), made gains in the State House/Senate and is poised to take the governor's seat in 2014, and the candidate (a political newbie) whose campaign I worked on beat out a 4-term legislator by 7 points, so I don't think I'd fall under the losers there. Also, what A Person said (thanks to him for that).

[Joe Republic]

Heatmaster's posts have longer sentences than Jared Loughner's, and more missed periods than Bristol Palin.

[heatmaster]

I'm not looking for perfection in my grammar; just want to air opinions & post advisory's dude; school is out & since there is likely to be no penalty for my faulty grammar, I'm not worried man!

[Joe Republic]

Oh, you're still in school.  Thank goodness for that!

[heatmaster]

whatever!!!

[hopper]

Sure, the electability candidate lost. But we must ask the question- why was Romney, of all people, the most electable candidate? The Republican Party is filled with lunatics, crazies, and morons. Until that changes, blaming Romney does not help them one bit. 2016 will roll around and the base will have the same demands.

The Dems have their crazies too.