Posted on 11/07/2012 4:46:49 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Conservatives lambast Romney, vow to take over Republican Party By Erik Wasson - 11/07/12 02:43 PM ET
Conservative leaders on Wednesday lashed out at Mitt Romney, saying his attempts to paint himself as a centrist and hide his principles cost him the presidency.
They vowed to wage a war to put the Tea Party in charge of the Republican Party by the time it nominates its next presidential candidate.
“The battle to take over the Republican Party begins today and the failed Republican leadership should resign,” said Richard Viguerie, a top activist and chairman of ConservativeHQ.com.
He said the lesson on Romney’s loss to President Obama on Tuesday is that the GOP must “never again” nominate a “a big government established conservative for president.”
Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots said Romney failed to make the kind of strong case for conservatism that would have won the election.
She described Romney as a “weak, moderate candidate hand-picked by the country club elite Republican establishment.”
“They didn’t see a clear distinction so they went with what they know,” she said of voters.
“It should have been a landslide if Romney had run as a true conservative,” said Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center.
“Romney took all the right stances, no question. The problem was not communicating them on the national stage with President Obama,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the head of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List.
Martin argued that there was no repudiation of the Tea Party by the electorate because Tea Party values were not firmly articulated.
“This is not the death of the Tea Party,” Martin said.
“Tea Partiers will take over the Republican party in the next four years,” Viguerie said.
In the meantime, conservatives will work to ensure that congressional Republicans do not compromise their principles in fiscal talks with Obama, he said.
“Conservatives and Tea Partiers are just sick and tired of Republican leaders compromising on the state and national level with Democrats that grow the size of government,” Viguerie said. “We are going to hold their feet to the fire.”
Bozell said conservative groups need to up their financial pressure on GOP lawmakers unless they agree to a series of demands, including again vowing to approve of no tax increases for anyone.
right on....
a “weak, moderate candidate hand-picked by the country club elite Republican establishment.”
“They didn’t see a clear distinction so they went with what they know,” she said of voters.
+1
Romney was a fine candidate. He worked as hard as any candidate ever has and would have been a fine president. It is our own parties fault that he lost, republicans did not show up and vote, period
“The battle to take over the Republican Party begins today and the failed Republican leadership should resign,”
Every sorry last one of them.
I suggest we get rid of Boehner. The House is the one thing standing in the way of banana republic status. He is weak. It’s only a matter of time befopre he rolls over.
I concur. I hated the idea of Romney as the nominee, but the more I saw of Romney the more I liked and thought he could have been a great president. He ran as good of campaign as possible. Could he have done things better? Maybe around the margins, but on balance it was not Romney’s fault.
I pu the blame on the corrupt MSM. Had they not eagerly and consistently tipped the scales in Obama’s favor Romney would have won - easily.
Message and strategy for the last three months, but that’s mostly campaign team. Romney performed extraordinarily well in the final 30 days. I gained a lot of respect.
I agree. I said many times before the primaries that I would never vote for him. But once it was settled, I have to say he grew on me. I also think he would have been a good president.
The left didn't attack him for being too moderate, they attacked him for being too much like us.
I put the blame on the corrupt MSM. Had they not eagerly and consistently tipped the scales in Obama’s favor Romney would have won - easily.
I agree. He lost in part due to an openly corrupt media, because possibly some voters decided to sit it out, because of some voter fraud I'm convinced, and because almost half of America (arguably more than half) want to believe what the Left is peddling.
Actually, I don’t think Romney was bad, but Obama waged one of the most vile and evil campaigns in modern history.
It was the War on Women, Big Bird, the class warfare, the birth control and abortion BS, the Bain Capital slurs, the 47% ads, and 6 months of negative advertising.
Honestly, maybe Romney’s problem was that he didn’t trust that the gutter politics would work.
I thought the American people were smarter than that, so both Romney and I got it wrong.
You guys are living in a fantasy world! Forget politics. Start enjoying your life. It's going to be a short bumpy ride to the cemetery. Golf, booze and sex pal! This country is over! El finite!
Romney was a fine candidate. He worked as hard as any candidate ever has and would have been a fine president. It is our own parties fault that he lost, republicans did not show up and vote, period
I agree. He needed to get more aggressive. I’m sure he was advised against it. Thank Christie fo his “slobbering love affair” with Obama. I hear our Majority Leader wants to get rid of the filibuster rule—at least until the Sems get a fillibuster-proof congress.
I agree. He has always struck me as a weak sister.
He already rolled pal,...
I heard the same thing in CA for over a decade and the CA GOP is now officially irrelevant. It controls not a single statewide office and the Democrats have just achieved supermajorities in both houses of the legislature.
These know-nothing commenters want to follow that model into oblivion on the national level. They are insane and must be opposed as fiercely as the Democrats if not more so because if they are not stopped from destroying the Republican Party there will be no opposition to national Democrats in our lifetime.
Conservatives are upset, huh? What? All 6 of them(outside FR).
very old Richard Viguerie: a veteran of the Reagan revolution.
And a very smart guy.
But Richard, which one these failed candidates was your creation yesterday? Didja get any winners? Anywhere?
Nobody? And now ya wanna take over?
We fell in line like good soldiers, and now its time to either take control or take a hike.
I have said several times that, if Romney lost against the worst president in my lifetime, the GOP would split.
I think another tea rebellion is in the offing.
What is ironic about your post is that these “morons” are some of the people who actually did destroy the California Republican Party.
Can they at least be politically savvy Conservatives?
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