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Pat Caddell: Republican 'Consultant-Lobbyist-Establishment' Complex Responsible For Romney Defeat
Big Government ^ | 24 Nov 2012 | Tony Lee

Posted on 11/24/2012 10:47:25 AM PST by Bratch

Speaking at The David Horowitz Freedom Center's "Restoration Weekend" in Florida on November 16, Pat Caddell indicted what he called the Republican "consultant-lobbyist-establishment" complex for losing a presidential campaign in 2012 President Barack Obama had no business winning.

“No presidential campaign should be run by consultants,” Caddell said. “They should be run by people who are committed to the candidate and not into making big money.”

Caddell said “Republicans never attempted to put a frame around the national election” because “the people who run the messaging in the Republican party and their consultants refused to do it.”

Caddell, the former Jimmy Carter adviser who consulted on the "Hope and the Change" movie that profiled disaffected Obama 2008 voters who were not going to vote for him in 2012, warned Republicans that the consultant-lobbyist-establishment complex may threaten to take the party into oblivion if not marginalized.

The Romney campaign, Caddell said, was driven be establishment consultants and was a failure of mechanics and message.

“But most of all, it was a failure of imagination,” Caddell said. ““It was the single worst campaign in modern history of a challenger who had a chance to win ... and that’s the truth and nothing can take away from that.”

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012analysis; 2012electionanalysis; blame; caddell; consultants; election; patcaddell; rinos; romney; romney2012
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To: dandiegirl
Primary elections should be held on one day for every state. The winner of the most votes, wins the Primary

I agree the current primary system needs to change.

I would go back to the founders' ideas about electors. It wwould all be on one day, but I'd have each state legislator district in the US elect an elector who goes to the national convention, and those electors select the presidential and vice presidential nominee and establish the party platform.

We definitely need to get rid of the presidential candidate selecting the vice-presidential candidate. That is simply a silly procedure.

Eventually, we need to get around to repealing the 17th amendment, too. We NEED a representative from the state legislature voting on Federal initiatives. We need them answering to the people far more than every 6 years. And, we need them because they would be antagonistic to beltway shenanigans.

61 posted on 11/24/2012 12:59:59 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! True supporters of our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: himno hero; Bratch
Great video..Bill Whittle
http://vimeo.com/52009124
People need to be aware! We spent years fighting
communism and then America unwittingly elects one!
I disagree :(somewhat)..The Takers Got exactly what they wanted (free stuff)...
the Makers got their heads (many more taxes/fines/fees) handed to them..
(11-04-'08) Fool me once, Shame on You;
(11-06-'12) Fool me twice, Shame on Me...

He was correct, (Pat Caddell) disassociate w/ many of the
$$$$ Consultants; only true patriots need apply.

62 posted on 11/24/2012 1:03:19 PM PST by skinkinthegrass (Anger a Conservative by telling a lie; Anger a Liberal by telling the truth....RWR 8-)
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To: greene66

I long for the days of Ray Bliss. He started as REP chairman and ended up National. He cared about the machinery that elected Republicans . It had nothing to do with with any partisanship toward the GOP. He brought the party back in 66 and go us the presidency in 68. He could get out the vote!


63 posted on 11/24/2012 1:07:45 PM PST by RightLady
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To: greene66

I long for the days of Ray Bliss. He started as REP chairman in Ohio and ended up National. He cared about the machinery that elected Republicans . It had nothing to do with with any partisanship toward the GOP. He brought the party back in 66 and go us the presidency in 68. He could get out the vote!


64 posted on 11/24/2012 1:08:03 PM PST by RightLady
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To: cruise_missile
The electorate was hardly dense. 7 million Obama voters (from 2008) stayed away, and literally GAVE the election to Romney if he could have done as well as George W. Bush in 2004!

Alas, he only did as well as McCain, and that wasn't good enough.

65 posted on 11/24/2012 1:09:33 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: going hot

as I posted, “sadly, never.”


66 posted on 11/24/2012 1:10:04 PM PST by pioneerstakethearrows
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To: Williams

We’re not talking about Romney, who personally ran a good campaign.
It was all those campaign funkiest and consultants who did the details, which are the ones Caddell is talking about.

Think of that buffoon Eric Fehrnstrom who after Romney took strong stands on amnesty and other issues in the primaries came out and said “we’ll change our message like an Etch a sketch”

That lost millions of those white Reagan democrats and others who could no longer trust Romney.


67 posted on 11/24/2012 1:10:11 PM PST by oldbill
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To: Williams

We’re not talking about Romney, who personally ran a good campaign.
It was all those campaign funkiest and consultants who did the details, which are the ones Caddell is talking about.

Think of that buffoon Eric Fehrnstrom who after Romney took strong stands on amnesty and other issues in the primaries came out and said “we’ll change our message like an Etch a sketch”

That lost millions of those white Reagan democrats and others who could no longer trust Romney.


68 posted on 11/24/2012 1:10:19 PM PST by oldbill
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To: FreeReign
In a tight race with the MSM against you, you probably shouldn't alienate any one of the factions who support Republican candidates.

But FUR SHUR you don't go campaigning for undecided voters in the middle ~ because they don't exist ~ there being no middle for one thing, but also by the time we get around to a Presidential race, everybody is decided on which candidate they like ~ the only remaining decision is whether to vote or not vote.

You really need to campaign to your base ~ to get them out.

69 posted on 11/24/2012 1:15:34 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: oldbill; P-Marlowe

I’ve got to disagree. Romney ran a lousy campaign.

He backed away from anything on Libya, on the budget, and on unemployment (except his “12 million jobs” line.)

He refused to take up social conservative issues, but the damning thing about it was that his silence was AFTER he sided with gay couples, gay adoption, gay boy scouts, and a gay military.

His only words on abortion were words to clarify that he didn’t really mean “health of the mother” when he said “health of the mother” when talking about EXCEPTIONS to abortion. IOW, he did not make a case for the sacredness of life, he spoke instead about the necessity of abortion in many cases, as he saw it. He was not a “LIFE” crusader; he was an exception crusader.

How easy is it to say, as Reagan was wont to do, “if we’re arguing if it’s life or not, then let’s err on the side of life.”

So, he had folks sit on the sidelines and he lost.

The only way one can say Romney ran a “good” campaign is if they believe Romney intended to lose.


70 posted on 11/24/2012 1:16:50 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! True supporters of our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: Williams

I think he ran a pretty bad campaign. One way of looking at it is how much better did the GOP ticket do because of Romney’s campaign?

IOW, lets say after the convention Romney had announced “Look, we all know how awful Obama is, I’m not even going to bother campaigning. It’s simple. If you want 4 more years of Obama, vote for him in November, if you don’t, vote for me.

Would he have ended up any worse than he did?

I don’t think so/

In the end, he wound up with the 47.5% or so who would have just as soon voted “Not Obama”. I don’t think he really added anything to that or built on the anti-Obama vote to get him the extra few pts he needed to get over the top. That’s on the campaign.


71 posted on 11/24/2012 1:24:06 PM PST by jeltz25
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To: Bratch
Atwater's supposed attack on Ferraro's parents ~ highlighting their indictments for numbers ~ was a delicate euphemism for who her folks really were ~ basically hard core kick 'em in the head mafioso who preyed on innocent Italian and Sicilian business people.

Her own husband was heavily involved in the pornography business.

She was no more fit for public office than Nancy Pelosi, also of that same sort of origin.

The Mob has always had a big stake in Democrat politicians. With Obama they've got it in spades (not a pun).

Interesting we have folks wanting us to think less of Atwater because of his feeble attempt to draw our attention to the criminal elements at the top of the Democrat party.

72 posted on 11/24/2012 1:24:13 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: WilliamIII; Bratch; Thebaddog; All
Again, what did Atwater have to do with electing Ronald Reagan?
ok..ok..ok..Michael Deaver, was Reagan's Campaign Manager...
Lee Atwater, was Geo. H.W. Bush Campaign Manager...

Michael Deaver, Ed Meese, and James Baker; were on Ronald W. Reagan Main White House Staff:..

73 posted on 11/24/2012 1:34:20 PM PST by skinkinthegrass (Anger a Conservative by telling a lie; Anger a Liberal by telling the truth....RWR 8-)
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To: Political Junkie Too

Sounds like you agree with my shadow govt idea like they have in the UK. Like Romney should have already had a cabinet announced in the summer and campaigned with them as a team. For some reason only the P and VP run together in the US.

If he had a full cabinet put together and ran so people knew the entire new administration I think that would have helped.

It would be a good idea for 2016./


74 posted on 11/24/2012 1:37:53 PM PST by jeltz25
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To: skinkinthegrass

you disagree with the fact that the takers, the illiterate, unknowing people who unwittingly voted for a marxist???

Obviously you did not watch the vimeo video which did not even mention Bill Whittle


75 posted on 11/24/2012 1:42:26 PM PST by himno hero (hadnuff)
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To: Thud

Yes...Romney was the worst choice! We need to repair the primary system asap.


76 posted on 11/24/2012 1:47:01 PM PST by fabian (" And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo in laughter")
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To: Bratch; All
Speaking at The David Horowitz Freedom Center's "Restoration Weekend" in Florida on November 16, Pat Caddell

Layer upon layer upon layer, etc., of confusion.

Pat's throwing a confusion grenade into the core of conservatism.

Restoring America is not about elections or campaigns or politicians, for that matter.

Please, in 1980, Federal debt was 40% of GDP now its over 100% of GDP.

What worked then will not work now.

Trimming the budget will not work.

Lowering taxes a little will not work.

Electing a real conservative President will not work.

The spending is completely off-the-charts out of control. $1 trillion in Welfare - not including Social Security, Medicare or Defense.

The debt is now more than the entire annual economy.

We need to mobilize the citizenry - the 50 to 100 million or so that have some sense - to start changing the institutions and organizations that have been, in earnest, subversively promoting communism for the last 50 years (of course the ideas are 150 years old).

There are many ways to do this real work that must be done. Without this work, the election of Republicans alone will not stop the collapse of societal values.

I had one idea, I made these posts:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2960343/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2960965/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2961730/posts

I have over 50 people interested so far - please let me know if you'd like to be on the list.
77 posted on 11/24/2012 1:47:49 PM PST by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves.)
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To: jeltz25
Sort of. I wasn't suggesting running with a Cabinet, only other candidates to elected office. I wasn't sure if there are legal considerations to naming cabinet positions (quid pro quo?), or if it was just more political fodder for the opposition to use.

Here's an interesting article on the topic, which includes your phrase "shadow" cabinet.

All the President's Mystery Men (and Women)

-PJ

78 posted on 11/24/2012 1:51:44 PM PST by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: A_Former_Democrat

The loser party plain and simple, go kiss the ring it’s your turn. fools! Not a dime comes your way from my pocket


79 posted on 11/24/2012 2:02:53 PM PST by ronnie raygun (bb)
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To: Bratch

BUMP


80 posted on 11/24/2012 2:05:25 PM PST by kitkat
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