Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Romney Campaign's Latest Scapegoat: Chris Christie


Over the past two weeks, many potential scapegoats have been floated by Romney supporters, staffers, and even Romney himself. So far, none of them have caught on. Most objective observers have concluded that a deeply flawed candidate ran a deeply flawed campaign. 

It's understandable that those with so much invested in Romney's candidacy would point fingers. They all have reputations and resumes to protect, and future campaigns to destroy from within.

Their latest target isn't going to get any sympathy from me. I've long viewed Chris Christie as an egotistical blowhard. Having said that, I'm just not buying what Team Romney is selling. It's been well documented that Romney's "Get Out The Vote" program was a colossal failure. Romney lost the election because too many Republicans stayed home.

The average Republican "couch voter" in Florida did not decide whether or not to vote based on what Chris Christie was doing in New Jersey. Conversely, the average "Obama phone" Democrat in Ohio was more concerned about keeping their food stamps than Obama's orchestrated photo op with the New Jersey Governor. Ask yourself this...How many Obama voters in Ohio could even name the New Jersey Governor?

I suspect we're about to witness a circular firing squad within the Romney campaign, because, like all of the other manufactured excuses, this one isn't going to stick.

Cross posted at Redstate

56 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't know anyone who seriously blames Chris Christie and I know a lot of staunch Romney supporters, being that I am one.

Conjecture all you want, but don't pin these blame games on Romney. All he did was explain to his donors what went wrong according to his information, and he didn't mention Christie in that phone call, either. He mentioned Bill Clinton telling him he believed Sandy made Obama look presidential. I don't think Sandy had a lot to do with it, but it certainly didn't help that the media tried to make Romney look pathetic for his food drive efforts and his lack of Air Force One.

Personally, I'm wondering when we are going to stop seeing the blame-Romney game. It gets old. I, for one, would like to move on, seeking to strengthen and unify the conservative movement.

The only circular firing squad I see is people who keep talking about our failures, around and around and around. It's hardly helpful.

Right Wingnut said...

According to the linked article, people from the Romney campaign are blaming him.

...Republicans have lashed out at Christie, and the Romney team is convinced that he hurt them in the crucial final moments of the campaign. The New York Times reports that in a "lengthy autopsy of their campaign," Romney's political advisers found that a large number of voters who were undecided toward the end wound up voting Obama, and many said Hurricane Sandy was a major factor in their decision. “Christie,” said a Romney adviser, “allowed Obama to be president, not a politician.”.....

Anonymous said...

I never bought the Christie argument, Romney's poll numbers were still pretty good after Christie. It seems his internals were following suit. Romney just never had a chance. Too many issues that didn't resonate well with the average voter. He was castrated on ObamaCare, that didn't help either. The Obama campaign and the MSM did exactly as the Romney naysayers said they would and we were right. I, for one, was repeatedly ridiculed on this site, and Race, for years explaining exactly what would happen. They made it personal, when it wasn't... I only wish Doug, Martha, Ellie, et al would have the decency to apologize... wishful thinking.

jerseyrepublican

BTW RW, I assume the PalinforPresident blog is yours... I went to comment on your post but I couldn't post anonymously... I suppose you are trying to keep the trolls at bay?

Right Wingnut said...

JR,

I put that site up in about 5 minutes the other night. I really haven't done anything with it other than copy the post from here. I plan on doing more with it down the road. I wanted to grab the name more than anything. I can't believe someone didn't already have that one.

It must be something in the settings. I'll look in to it.

Anonymous said...

RW, No big deal, I should probably set up a blogger account anyway. Did you check to see if the domain name is available... because you can link a domain name to a blogger site. If I don't catch up with you again... I hope you and your have a safe, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

jerseyrepublican

Right Wingnut said...

JR,

I fixed it. Thanks for the heads up.

Right Wingnut said...

I'm not sure what you mean. Isn't that already a domain name? I'm I interested in knowing if I'm missing something that I should be doing.

JRTerrier5 said...

This is an unfair post, trashing Romney & attributing to him & his campaign for an attack on Christie that is not properly sourced. It also discounts that Christie played a part in the loss when that is a possibility given that exit polls showed a large # of persons who claimed that they made up their mind in the last week & a large # who said that Hurricane Sandy played a part in their decision-making while the media repeatedly showed the Christie/Obama love-fest.

I followed your links and read both the New York magazine article & the NYTimes article, which the post claims as the source of the Romney campaign blaming Christie. The articles describe the chilly reception that met Christie at the Republican governor's conference, identifying several persons by name who were critical of Christie. None of them were Romney operatives. It quoted a long-time republican operative in Iowa, who said that Christie's hug hurt Romney in Iowa; this Iowan was not identified as a Romney campaign operative. Neither of the articles even suggests that the chilly reception at the Republican governors conference was orchestrated by Romney.

The only reference to the Romney campaign is a Times reference to 2 unnamed Romney campaign people.

I agree with Oxblood Angel. This continuing trashing of Gov Romney is not helpful & when done as here is really unfair.

I am one of the registered DEMS, who voted for Romney because I believed him to be the best candidate for the job. Every campaign who loses did something wrong. Trashing Gov Romney is not helpful.

BOSMAN said...

hahahaha....What is this going to be now...4 years of trashing Romney? Unnamed sources to boot...like the good old days..huh RWN?

Wait a minute...I know...you're trying to convince Romney supporters to support Palin...that's it...

Right Wingnut said...

Newsmax is reporting it too.

Romney Camp Blames Christie For Loss

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/christie-romney-election-obama/2012/11/20/id/464873

Right Wingnut said...

Bos, I have no delusions of any of the Rombots on this site, with exception of Gordon, supporting Palin for the nomination if she runs.

Anonymous said...

Romey never openly blamed Chistie and I am sick and tired of reading about unnamed sources. I personally think fatboy Christie assisted in Romney's demise with his over the top huggy kissy moment with Obama. Christie's open attack on Romney's campaign just days after the loss just confirms to me that Christie knew exactly what he was doing. I hope Corey Booker cleans Christie's clock in the NJ governor's race. I can't stand Arlen Spector like politicians.

BOSMAN said...

Hey RWN,

When you have "documentation" showing Romney blamed Christie...NOW THAT, would be worth posting.

Supporters are not the candidate.

I was one of the first to blame Christie...THEN AGAIN...I'M not Mitt Romney:

Obama's October Surprise! (November 7)

Right Wingnut said...

There are quotes from a Romney. I'm not sure why anyone would be shocked by this. It's what campaign staff does after a loss.

Right Wingnut said...

Quotes from a Romney adviser

Ohio JOE said...

To be sure, a lot of people are being blamed and perhaps many of them should not be blamed. However, I do think that Mr. Christie does deserve a portion of the blame. So I stand with the Romney camp on that issue.

Obama Sucks said...

More efforts by RW to unite the Republican Party.

Anonymous said...

Forget about stuff like this. It's pure distraction.

Focus on how the election was stolen from Romney--and Allen West by the way--with voter fraud. This is the most serious issue.

As it is, no Republican candidate, whoever it is, stands a chance in 2016.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't understand the lengths to which Christie went on and on about Obama...but I don't think Christie is personally to blame. The overall storm, more so than Christie, is what altered the conversation in the LAST WEEK of the campaign. It's not Christie's fault that the Sandy hit when it did but his response may have been worth a few points with late deciders.

The storm itself was the real boogeyman...the last week of a presidential campaign is crucial because EVERYONE is focused on it. Obama's closing arguments were weak and small and Romney had a big vision closing argument. The distinction between the two closing arguments would have been far more pronounced without Sandy. For 5 of the last 7 days of the campaign, all we saw was Storm Coverage and Obama doing what Obama does best...be a symbolic figurehead who "feels" your pain. Nothing could have boosted his personna more in the closing week. After all, that's all he's got...and it's got him pretty damn far. Obama's approval jumped 3 points in the last week...crazy.

The storm was the issue, not necessarily Chris Christie. I'm not saying Romney would have won the election without Sandy, but he certainly didn't need a freak of Nature that allowed Obama to amplify the perception that the media had carefully crafted for five years to shine brightly 3 days before the vote. Yep, for Rombots...Sandy stung like a bitch!

Gordon

Right Wingnut said...

OJ,

I hope I'm not being misunderstood here. I can't stand Christie. He annoys me more than anyone else in the GOP. Always has. His bromance with Obama was a serious lack of judgement. I blame him for being a dumbass. However, to suggest that it had a measurable effect on the results of the election....especially to the point of it costing Romney the victory is really a stretch.

I do hope this prevents him from getting anywhere near the nomination in 2016.

Nina said...

Another anti-Romney post from RW. You would figure he'd be done by now. Can you just post one encyclopedia length anti-Romney screed so that you can get it all out of your system? Thank you.

cimbri said...

I knew as soon as the hurricane was coming, that the momentum had switched. Haley Barbour, and all the astute observers said so. Chris Matthews, an old pol, openly thanked God for the hurricane and Christie's cooperation. Obama desperately needed a photo op (with a Republican) and Christie provided the absolutely crucial media setup for the evening news, for several days running. Some people just don't understand politics very well. Don't we all remember that Romney's campaign after the first debate was based on that he could work with the other side and Obama couldn't? Obama demolished that with the cooperation of Gov. Christie. No question it cost Romney the race.

The hurricane was the equivalent of a bad call at the end of a close football game. We've seen it a thousand times. Ref blows call, team loses, and then everyone remember all the other reasons why the team didn't win.

Other than that, the #1 reason we didn't win, was because of Obama's incumbency. come on guys, he bought entire states.

The #2 reason was lack of unity.

The #3 reason was socon gaffes.

The #4 reason, partially Romney's fault, is we never took credit for any of the social programs we did that have helped poor people, which hurt us with moderates. Unfortunately he could not because that would crash against the personal responsibility line. The conservatives in the party are going to have to provide some leeway for a contender to be able to "take credit" as it were, for the share of the federal largesse provided to the people. Republicans have been part of the creation of unemployment insurance, food stamps, eic, child tax credits, etc. but no one would ever know it. If we're going to spend the money, let's get some credit. This is not an either or situation,

JRTerrier5 said...

Sandy helped because of how the media played it. Had Romney been in charge of the Sandy relief effort, the media would have shown non-stop relief failures.

To quote Gov Romney at the Al Smith dinner:

He spelled out how the media will cover the dinner: "Obama embraced by Catholics, Romney dines with rich people." “I never suggest the press is biased. They have a job to do and I have a job to do,” said Romney. “My job is to lay out a positive vision for the country, and their job is to make sure nobody finds out about it.”

Right Wingnut said...

Nate Silver, the day before the election pointed out that Obama had been rebounding prior to the hurricane, and gave the reasons.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/05/nov-4-did-hurricane-sandy-blow-romney-off-course/

He predicted the exact electoral college results, so he just might know what he's talking about.

He does acknowledge that some of Obama's bump may have been due to the hurricane. Having said that, I never made the argument that the hurricane didn't help Obama. I was specifically referring to Christie.



Anonymous said...

Guess what I'm so sick of people in the GOP trashing Romney. They did it before the election on talk shows and their doing it now. The libs always stick together even in their lies but the Repubs eat their own...they're always so critical of each other. I was so disgusted I re-registered from a Republican to an Independent!

Right Wingnut said...

Funny how the same people complaining didn't have a problem with Palin being trashed after the '08 election. Of course, most joined in.

Join the club, guys.

Anonymous said...

Palin 2016...hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaahahaha, what a freakin joke.

cimbri said...

There were no mainstream right wingers bashing Palin after the 2008 election. Maybe a few consultant jerks but no one else that I remembered.

jm said...

Another anti-Romney post from RW. You would figure he'd be done by now. Can you just post one encyclopedia length anti-Romney screed so that you can get it all out of your system? Thank you.

Great question Nina. I am astonished by how this bashing won't end. It's sick. I want to know what it is about Governor Romney that arouses such obsessive hate. It's odd. People are engaged in self loathing at this point. Romney got 60,000,000 votes not counting the soldiers who were disenfranchised.

Romney was on a roll at the end and I agree with Gordon..

...the last week of a presidential campaign is crucial because EVERYONE is focused on it. Obama's closing arguments were weak and small and Romney had a big vision closing argument. The distinction between the two closing arguments would have been far more pronounced without Sandy.

The thing that Sandy did was to get Obama off the trail where he was losing it. Big Bird, Romnesia, and all of that small resentful crap. He was shrieking and losing his voice and ruining his high and mighty image. Of course, his followers never care.

But the Kill Romney game will have to wind down eventually. In fact, I'm anxiously awaiting his first post election interview. They're probably clamoring for that now. So who will get it?

I can understand why a reasonable analysis of the campaign is in order, but this hideous over emotional hate fest doesn't strike me as productive. I'd like to know why people can't let him go.

Right Wingnut said...

jm,

Nobody wants to hear from Mitt, other than a few of his sycophants. Mitt is probably the one placing calls trying to set something up.

Seriously, he is toast in the party. No influence. Nothing.

If you don't believe me, how about if we revisit the topic in a year.

He never really had a natural constituency. He was hoisted upon us, because we were told by a few party "insiders" that he was electable.

You guys are really setting yourselves up for a colossal disappointment.

Right Wingnut said...

It's bad enough that he couldn't defeat the worst president in history (and don't give me that "hard to beat an incumbent" bullshit), but he drove the party further in the ditch with his asinine comments about young women and minorities all wanting "gifts" from the government - confirming his "47%" comments for anyone who had been paying attention.

I've had it up to here with his supporters (with the exception of a few), who have been a bunch of arrogant bunch of pricks over the past few years. That pretty much goes hand in hand with Mitt's arrogant campaign. One seeming feeds the other, and as much as I would have liked to have seen Obama ousted, THAT is the one thing I won't miss in future campaigns. It's clear, however, that you haven't quite let go yet.

It's over, guys. He lost. Show some humility.

Right Wingnut said...

Apologies to the few decent Rombots out there. The others have ruined it for you.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

Wrong again, RW.

Romney will ALWAYS HAVE INFLUENCE in the GOP because he has a very large following in the Party, as demonstrated by his winning the nomination against a parade of capable challengers, and as demonstrated by the extremely large and enthusiastic crowds he drew during the closing weeks of the fall campaign.

Not to mention the fact that Romney is one of the best fundraisers the Party has ever known.

I'm not sure, however, that Romney even desires to have any future influence in the Party.

He gave it his best shot in 2012. Time to move on.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

And BTW, RW, all the exit polls show that you're dead wrong about the impact of Hurricane Sandy/ Chris Christie on the election results.

40% of voters said that Obama's response to Sandy was a factor in their voting decision, and 15% said it was a major factor.

Hurricane Sandy was clearly the decisive factor in this election. And you can't separate Sandy from Christie. They're joined at the hip.

jm said...

Humility?

Hmmmmmm.

You are the winner, RW. I feel that the desire to further beat up on the supporters is odd, as I said. I understand your rage, but it's over. And you're sitting pretty. If you carry on with all your resentment toward the supporters I believe it will taint the next go round.

He doesn't want influence in the party so it's not a worry. I've noticed that the supporters have endured a lot of abuse in the last couple of weeks but have quieted down. It's the winners who keep twisting the knife. It's time for you to pipe down. How long exactly are you going to write Mitt Romney posts? I used to love this site, but this is getting ridiculous. There were almost no comments here before, but Kill Romney comments come in abundance. I simply don't get it.

As far as me letting go... I might not. There were some characteristics in the man that I really liked. The memories might serve me well. Whether I like him or not, shouldn't bother you, should it?

I'm wary of your judgement, suggesting that Rombots are indecent. I don't get the connection.

This is a big thing with you. Maybe you should pick your next one and get going.

I disagree about media interest. At this point someone would want the exclusive.

Perhaps if you exercised some self discipline and refrained from any more hateful Romney posts, I would believe that you have actually let go, yourself. Not that I think that's necessary. But the continued bashing doesn't seem to be doing the trick.

He lost. Is that not sufficient?

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

Romney's "47%" comment was revealed to the public in mid-September.

In mid-October, Gallup had Romney leading Obama by 52%-45%.

The "47%" comment had virtually no impact on the election results.

Wrong again, RW.

jm said...

RW, I attended some of Mitt's final rallies and they were the best I ever experienced. In '08 I went to the last Obama rally with 100,000 in attendance and it was a dud compared to Romney's. There was a real and huge enthusiastic swell near the finish. The shows were expertly produced. The Red Rocks rally in particular, a one of a kind political event. The love that others felt doesn't interfere with your feelings. People have their own reasons for responding positively to Mitt Romney and there's nothing you can say to change that. And why would you want to at this point? I'm really perplexed.

Please calm down before you go off and accuse me of god knows what and rage on parroting the same things about the man. Supporting Mitt Romney is not really a big deal. He's disappearing into thin air. Maybe.

Right Wingnut said...

Too much to respond to here, because I have shit to do, but seriously, NH? You're quoting Gallup? Tell me thats a joke....

Right Wingnut said...

Truth is, this site is boring as hell without an opposing viewpoint to the circle jerk that is typically on display here. It's about as exciting for me as it would be for you at C4P. If you're looking for a site where you can lick Romney's ass all day long, perhaps you should start one. That way you could have control over who comments and/or writes on the front page.

As it stands, Bosman probably doesn't like some of the stuff I say either. Maybe he'll shit can me anyway. Either way, I can live with it.

jm said...

Very strange references to Mitt Romney.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

RW's idol, Ms. Palin, lost all credibility when she quit the Alaska governorship halfway through her term.

With that black mark on her resume`, the idea of her making a future run for the highest office in the land is laughable.

In politics, as well as in other walks of life, quitting creates a stigma that's virtually impossible to overcome.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

Judging by his obsessive hatred of Romney, RW obviously spent one too many days listening to Mark Levin and other Talk Radio blowhards during the GOP primaries.

Right Wingnut said...

I don't have a hatred for Romney. After all, I did vote for him.

I just believe he was an awful candidate. Those who have been around here since the beginning, and at ROS before that, know I've been saying that all along. This isn't an opinion I formed over the past two years.

I've repeated said he will lose, and why. I've been called delusional...."No way, could Romney lose to Obama. You're an idiot if you think that.....blah, blah, blah." Remind me again what just happened?

All of my 340 posts are right here.

http://www.rightspeak.net/search/label/-Right%20Wingnut

Right Wingnut said...

George Will over a year ago....

Romney, supposedly the Republican most electable next November, is a recidivist reviser of his principles who is not only becoming less electable, he might damage GOP chances of capturing the Senate: Republican successes down the ticket will depend on the energies of the tea party and other conservatives, who will be deflated by a nominee whose blurry profile in caution communicates only calculated trimming. Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis, a technocratic Massachusetts governor who takes his bearings from ‘data’ ... Has conservatism come so far, surmounting so many obstacles, to settle, at a moment of economic crisis, for THIS?

Could this statement have been any more accurate?

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

George Will supported Bush over Reagan during the 1980 GOP primaries, so I wouldn't put too much stock in anything he has to say.

Didn't Will predict a Romney landslide just a few days before the election?

Just sayin`.

..............

There's no question that Romney should have run a more aggressive campaign against Obama, and against the liberal media as well for protecting and defending the President.

Attacking Dan Rather worked wonders for Bush 41 during his 1988 campaign, and attacking "the nattering nabobs of negativism"(the media) did the same for President Richard Nixon during his 1972 re-election campaign, although Nixon let Vice-President Agnew do the dirty work for him.

Despite his shortcomings as a campaigner, Romney was clearly the best option for the GOP, IMHO.

Santorum, Gingrich, Cain & Perry all had far too much personal and/or political baggage to pose a serious threat to Obama.

Romney was the right choice. He just needed to be as aggressive throughout the campaign as he was during the first debate, and as he was during the primaries.

Nice guys finish last. Romney learned that the hard way on November 6th.

JRTerrier5 said...

By the way Right Wingnut if you want to learn what the Romney campaign really thinks about the loss, instead of relying on the NYT & the New Yorker, which publish unnamed Romney sources just listen to two of its surrogates -- Dan Senor & Rob Portman -- both speaking on the record quite intelligently.

JRTerrier5 said...

In response to Newark Hawk, I don't think that Palin lost her credibility by resigning the governorship. She was being hounded by DEMS, who were filing frivolous ethics complaints after frivolous ethics complaints.

For me she lost her credibility by backing Christine O'Donnell & Akin, which cost Republicans 2 Senate seats.

She also lost her credibility this primary season by continuing to push Newt when he had not possible way of winning the primary or the election & remained in it to sell books. If she had wanted to have her voice heard, she should have run but I'm afraid she realized she would have lost.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

@ RW

And BTW, it was comments like that from George Will and other so-called "conservative" pundits that did more to deflate GOP turnout on November 6th than Romney ever did.

Did any prominent liberal commentators attack Obama like Will attacked Romney?

Do prominent liberal commentators ever attack the Democrat nominee(or presumed nominee)?

Liberal commentators built up Obama, while conservative commentators tore down Romney.

That, in a nutshell, is why 3 million-plus Republicans didn't vote on November 6th.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

@ JR

Palin was hounded by Dems?

So what.

For Republicans in high office, that comes with the territory.

Anonymous said...

So much to comment on...

RW, a domain name refers to any website... what you have is a blogger site - .blogspot. If you look at godaddy.com, or any other site that sells website names, you can find a regular .com and then link that name to your blogger account, so anyone who types in your regular web address will be redirected to your blogger blog.

jerseyrepublican

Anonymous said...

NH, typical Rombot. I don't want to make this about Palin, since the post is about Romney, but Rombots tend to ridicule Palin whenever they feel cornered in their defense of the great and powerful Romulous.

Were you aware that Palin would have gone bankrupt defending herself against these frivolous lawsuits? In Alaska, the Governor cannot use state funds to defend herself but she can use state resources... meaning she can use time, her administration was forced to spend hours upon hours acquiring the material needed to defend her.

In one such lawsuit, Palin was sued for endorsing a company. The reality of the situation was that Palin was at her husband's Iron Dog event, was cold so her husband gave her his jacket to wear. That jacket had the logo of his sponsor on it, so some liberal from the continental US, sued her...

That's the other thing, she could be sued from any person in the US, not just an Alaskan citizen, all complaints had to be answered and she had to pay for her legal defense... it would have bankrupted her.

The liberals put a straight jacket on her and she could no longer perform her duties as Governor due to the time she had to put in defending herself.

She also had a great relationship with the state democrats and reached across the aisle for the benefit of the people of Alaska, once she had the nerve to accept the VP nomination, the state Dems refused to even discuss any legislature with her... she had become a lame duck in her first term.

When she resigned, Parnell was able to finish out the term, and ran that term based upon what Palin would have done. The ethics complaints stopped, the Dems worked with Parnell on the same legislature that Palin introduced.

jerseyrepublican

Right Wingnut said...

Thank, JR. I'm not exactly a techie, but I can usually figure stuff out. I was just confused wit the terminology. I would guess that particular domain is taken, but I haven't checked it out.

Right Wingnut said...

Huckabee back Akin. So did Gingrich, Santorum, and Bachmann.

Palin was the one trying to help the party save themselves from eachother in Missouri by backing Steelman.

Right Wingnut said...

Why doesn't Schmuckabee and the others I mentioned get any heat for Akin? Huckabee went as far to openly chastize people who asked Akin to get out, and doubled down on his support.

What's with the double satndard, Terrier?

Are you the former "Terrye?"

Right Wingnut said...

That's enough too much stuff to do. 30 people coming over later. Maybe I'll check back if i get time.

See ya.

Anonymous said...

RWN rest assured, i WILL work tiredsly to ensure that the arctic bimbo DOES NOT get any where near the GOP nomination.