Republican Party to Mitt Romney: Don't go away mad - just go away

A true sign of division within the Republican Party is their message to Mitt Romney after his ill-advised message to his campaign donors yesterday. The Republican elite has responded by telling Mitt not to go away mad, but to go away.

Romney's message to campaign donors in a phone call yesterday resembled the comments he made in a backroom comment about the "47 percent" during the campaign. Romney told donors the reason he lost the election was because President Obama doled out gifts to young people and minorities.

It was no secret during the campaign that although Romney tried to present himself as a conservative during the GOP primaries, he never won the hearts of the conservative wing of the Republican party. In the end, his support for some of the extreme right positions on abortion and contraception lost him the election. Obviously the so-called 47 percent paid back Romney and the right-wing extremists on social issues. They certainly didn't buy his message.

The Republican party knows it has work to do and must become inclusive to all Americans, including the Hispanic and black communities.

Louisianna Gov. Bobby Jindal said it best when he said that the party must stop dividing Americans and become all-inclusive:

“We have got to stop dividing American voters. I absolutely reject that notion, that description. We’re fighting for 100 percent of the vote."

Others noted that the Republican party is not just for those who are not dependent on the government.

Opinion:

Romney was probably the best out of the crop of candidates the Republicans offered during the primary this year. In the end the party never really accepted Romney for several reasons, including his record as a fairly moderate governor of Massachuesetts. Romney was unable to connect with the electorate, and his five-point economic plan was not convincing.

One could state a myriad of reasons for Romney not succeeding, but his biggest fault could be described as "foot-in-mouth" disease. The Republican party and Romney failed to realize where society was at and underestimated the strength of social issues, which sent women into the Obama camp in droves.

The true test of the Republican party will be in how they react to resolving the fiscal cliff, how the party moves forward in the next four years and how it resolves the social issues.

There is a string of potential candidates of young and upcoming legislators and governors, including Jindal and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. What is clear is that the party has to get rid of the "Party of the Rich" labeling.

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Source:

Washington Post