No Love for Mitt - Gop kicks romney to the curb

(Image source: The New York Times) BY ZACH TOOMBS Two weeks ago he was the unofficial leader of the Republican Party. But on Sunday conservatives had Mitt Romney’s face on a proverbial dart board, making no hesitations about distancing themselves from the former nominee and some recent comments of his. On Wednesday, ABC reported Romney saying this in a phone call to donors... “What the president, the president’s campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition. Give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote.” ...and in the days since, the former candidate has seen a wave of backlash from former conservative friends. On Sunday, the new chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Bobby Jindal, led the charge on Fox News, responding to Romney’s comments. “I absolutely reject what he said. Look, we as a Republican Party, have to campaign for every single vote. If we want people to like us, we have to like them first. And you don’t start to like people by insulting them by saying their votes were bought.” Followed shortly by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on NBC’s Meet the Press... “We’re in a big hole. We’re not getting out of it by comments like that. When you’re in a hole stop digging. He keeps digging.” Even former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who was among the most visible Romney surrogates on the campaign trail, took a step back on C-Span Friday to say he didn’t agree. “This is a wake up call for the Republican Party … I don’t think it’s a matter of people looking at the election and saying ‘I’m going to vote because of, you know, gifts.’ I think they looked at it and said, which one of these candidates would they prefer.” The harsh response to Romney’s comments from fellow Republicans mirrors a wider shift in tone for a political party looking to mend ties with certain demographics — Hispanic voters especially. The Los Angeles Times notes: “Whether it’s an instance of politicians smelling blood in the water as the party, following Romney’s defeat, finds itself without a figurehead, or genuine outrage, a number of Republicans have eagerly castigated their former nominee.” But while some Republicans have encouraged a softer, even more moderate, ideology for their party, newly-elected Texas Senator Ted Cruz says the GOP lost ground in recent elections because it didn’t properly embrace the core of its philosophy. According to Politico, at the Federalist Society’s annual conference, Cruz accused Romney of moderating his message — sounding too much like President Barack Obama. “...there are these mandarins of politics, who give the voice: ‘Don’t show any contrasts. Don’t rock the boat.’ So by the third debate, I’m pretty certain Mitt Romney actually French-kissed Barack Obama … Our ideas work. Theirs don’t.” In an interview after his speech, Cruz reportedly didn’t comment directly on Romney’s “gifts” remark, again saying the Republican Party failed to represent their ideas well.