For conservatives and Republicans trying to make the GOP friendlier to those groups, RomneyÂ’s comments have not been well-received. To say the least.
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Romney’s theory isn’t just wrong, it’s pernicious,” wrote Daily Caller conservative columnist Matt Lewis. “Here’s hoping he finally rides off into the political sunset.”
Many of Romney’s most vocal critics after “gifts” have been tough on Romney before. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) initially backed Rick Perry in the presidential primary before getting on Team Romney in the general. Perhaps with his own presidential ambitions on his mind,
Jindal excoriated Romney Wednesday for his “absolutely wrong” remarks.
Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist who helmed Hispanic outreach for John McCain in 2008 and worked for Jon Huntsman in 2012, was also critical of Romney through the campaign for his failure to engage minority communities. She took to her Twitter feed after “gifts” to tie the remarks to his broader shortcomings as a candidate.
“Livid at Romney saying Obama won b/c offered minorities ‘gifts,”’ she wrote. “As if he didn’t alienate Hispanics enuf while running! Look in mirror, Mitt.”
David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter and longtime critic of the partyÂ’s lurch to the right,
held up RomneyÂ’s latest comments as emblematic of his failed campaign.
“Mitt Romney was very wrong to see 2012 as a referendum on ‘stuff,’” he wrote
in a blog post. “It was a referendum on the question, which candidate would do a better job promoting prosperity and creating jobs. That was the referendum that Romney and the Republican party lost. We lost both because voters did not believe in the job-creating magic of upper-income tax cuts - and because voters were unpersuaded that the GOP even cared that much about job creation, as opposed to wealth preservation.”
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