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Christie, Martinez take issue with Romney’s ‘gift’ remarks

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) criticized Mitt Romney’s remark to donors this week that he lost the election because President Obama handed out “gifts” to certain parts of the electorate, becoming the latest Republicans to take issue with the former GOP presidential nominee’s comments.

“That unfortunately is what sets us back as a party — our comments that are not thought through carefully,” Martinez said at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Las Vegas, according to Yahoo News.

In a Friday morning interview on MSNBC, Christie said he agreed with the other Republicans who have said that Romney’s remark was wrong, but didn’t appear to want to pile on too much. ”Do I wish he hadn’t said those things? Of course. But on the other hand, I’m not going to bury the guy for it,” Christie said.

Earlier this week, two other prominent Republicans, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, both criticized Romney’s remark.

“We need to stop being a dumb party, and that means more than stop making dumb comments,” Jindal said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ele ... t-remarks/

Newser) – It looks like Mitt Romney's parting shot—attributing Barack Obama's win to the "gifts" he offered minorities and the young—is the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats, as Republicans around the country hurried to distance themselves from their former nominee's comment. Prominent GOP governors attending yesterday's Republican Governors Association were lining up to repudiate the line, using much stronger language than they did after Romney's famous "47%" video during the campaign, notes Politico. Among the more recent reactions, from the GOP and the media:

"It's wrong, it's not true," said Florida Gov. Rick Scott. "What we've got to do is say we want every vote, we want to take care of every citizen in our state."

"What the voters are looking for us to do is to accept their votes and go forward," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte. "I don't know the full context of [Romney's comments] but I don’t agree with them."

"I guess my feeling is that we need to turn the page, and we need to focus on the future and not make excuses for the past," said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.

"The prevailing opinion among ... the professional political ranks of the Republican party ... is that there is much work to be done and that Romney will have a hand in almost none of it. Put more simply: Thanks for playing. Now go away," writes Chris Cillizza for the Washington Post.

"It’s not too much to say that Romney is now uniting the country across party lines," writes Josh Marshall for TPM. But what they're in agreement about is "that he’s someone who should leave as soon as possible and not say anything publicly again. Actually scratch that. Democrats are starting to think that having Romney around and continuing to dump on a broad range of Americans might be pretty awesome."

http://www.newser.com/story/157726/gop- ... mment.html


Rising stars in the GOP are quickly moving to distance themselves from Mitt Romney, since they only have 1,454 to do so before the 2016 election. Bobby Jindal kicked things off on Wednesday, saying Mitt Romney was "absolutely wrong" when he explained earlier this week that he only lost the election because of President Obama's "gifts" to women, minorities, and young people (which are sometimes referred to as "policies that improve Americans' lives.") On Thursday during the annual Republican Governors Association meeting, other GOP leaders tried to catch up. Florida Governor Rick Scott told Politico that Romney's comments were "inappropriate," adding, "It’s wrong, it’s not true." Iowa Governor Terry Branstad remarked, “I don’t think it’s helpful," and said it's time to stop making excuses. However, Jindal wasn't finished. On Thursday, he expanded his criticism of Romney's remarks, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer that Republicans won't win elections by "insulting voters." “If you want voters to like you, the first thing you’ve got to do is to like them first," said Jindal. "And it’s certainly not helpful to tell voters that you think their votes were bought. That’s certainly not a way to show them you respect them, you like them.”

Two senators and former Romney surrogates joined in the chorus of criticism, though they tried to soften the blow. "I don’t want to rebut him point by point," Marco Rubio told Politico. "I would just say to you, I don’t believe that we have millions and millions of people in this country that don’t want to work. I’m not saying that’s what he said. I think we have millions of people in this country that are out of work and are dependent on the government because they can't find a job." Kelly Ayotte said on MSNBC that though she doesn't know the full context, "I don’t agree with the comments." She added that Republicans need to focus on the future, saying, "I think the campaign is over, and what the voters are looking for us to do is to accept their votes and then go forward, and we’ve got some big challenges that need to be resolved.”

Picking apart Romney's postelection recap is awkward for some Republican leaders since they were much more forgiving when Romney expressed the same sentiments in the "47 percent" video. On Meet the Press in September, Ayotte downplayed Romney's comments, saying, “That certainly was a political analysis at a fund-raiser, but it’s not a governing philosophy." At the time Rubio said he merely wished Romney had framed his remarks “in a different way.”

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez has been more consistent in her opinion of those who are allegedly mooching of the government. Amid the "47 percent" controversy she said she was happy there's a safety net for those living at the poverty level because they, "count just as much as anybody else." On Thursday after the conference, she reiterated that it was a "ridiculous statement to make," and said of Romney's latest, and possibly final gaffe, "That unfortunately is what sets us back as a party — our comments that are not thought through carefully." As a member of two groups Republicans hope to woo, it's likely they'll be paying close attention to her analysis — though it seems the bit about thinking before speaking hasn't sunk in yet. Haley Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi, said at the Republican conference, “We’ve got to give our political organization a very serious proctology exam. We need to look everywhere.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/go ... marks.html