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George Will Says the Republicans Should Be Winning, But Here Is Why They Are Not

Reacting to the unemployment situation in light of the latest disappointing jobs report, conservative columnist George Will said on Sunday's This Week:

"If the Republican Party cannot win in this environment, it has to get out of politics and find another business."

But Romney is not winning. Generally, when the economy is doing this tepidly in September, it spells doom for the incumbent president. What's going on? Why is Obama winning?

Implied in Will's remark is that the Republicans are somehow not running their campaigns correctly. That is, a GOP candidate doing a good job would win in the current economic environment. I would argue that in the modern Republican party, it is impossible for Will's conception of a good candidate to secure a nomination. That is, the very qualities necessary to get a GOP nomination, especially for president, are the very characteristics that are giving Obama (and a surprising number of Democratic U.S. Senate and U.S. House candidates) the lead despite the unemployment numbers

The current Republican argument is, essentially, this: There is too much government, so if you elect us, we will cut taxes for the wealthy and remove regulations, which will lead to a stronger economy and jobs for everyone.

I think there is a reason why this argument (offered by this GOP presidential candidate) just isn't flying with enough swing voters right now to put Romney ahead. Simply put, they don't trust him.

George Will may think Romney should be able to win in the current economic environment, but what he is missing is that given the hard shift to the right the Tea Party-dominated Republicans have taken in the last few years, GOP candidates are stuck with a platform and policy agenda that alienate the voters they need to reach the most. Will says that if Romney loses in November, Republicans should get out of politics, but by embracing an extreme right-wing agenda and then lying about it, it is as if the party already has. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-bard/george-will-says-the-repu_
b_1869503.html]
Even their "moral leader" isn't thrilled...as he compared Romney yesterday with Elmer Fudd!

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Limbaugh: We are voting against Obama, Romney could be Elmer Fudd

On his radio program Monday the moral leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, said Mitt Romney might as well be “Elmer Fudd” meaning that Republicans are not voting for him, they are voting against Obama. That must hurt to be considered the equivalent of Elmer Fudd.

Limbaugh was frustrated with the fact that Romney is trailing in the polls when Limbaugh and GOP leaders thought he would get a double digit bounce after the Republican Convention. In fact, Romney got no bounce

Republicans thought that with a bad economy they could nominate anyone so long as they were over 35 and a citizen. They believed whoever they nominated would crush Obama. So far, they have been disappointed. The party bosses helped muscle Romney into the nomination over his primary opponents, and now many Republicans question their choice. Rick Santorum said during the primary that Romney was “the worst Republican we can run against Obama.”

Limbaugh was making that point Monday. Limbaugh said “Romney is not the perfect candidate. That does not matter,” he said. “Romney, the best thing he can do is remember this election isn't about him. He may as well be Elmer Fudd as far as we're concerned. We're voting against Obama.

Today, Limbaugh expressed more frustration at the Romney campaign. According to Limbaugh, Romney is treating Obama like “Mr. Nice Guy.” Limbaugh said Romney needed to go “ideological.” That is dog whistle language for vicious personal attacks.

Republicans are generally disappointed in Romney and are experiencing some buyer’s remorse. Romney’s penchant for having no convictions and flip-flopping on every issue nearly every day is one reason for the Republican buyers’ remorse because it is hurting Romney in the polls. However, Republicans are partly responsible for the problem because the party has become so extreme that Romney tilted so far right just to keep the base that he risks losing independents and moderate voters.

When Romney tries to say something moderate like he did Sunday morning when he said on “Meet the Press” that he would keep some provisions of Obamacare, party bosses forced him to flip-flop a few hours later saying he would repeal Obamacare in its entirety. So, some of the flip-flops are Romney’s doing, others are clearly the Republican bosses and campaign contributors demanding purity on the issues they favor.

But, it still must hurt Mitt when the top Republican says he could be Elmer Fudd. That is a few notches below Mickey Mouse, and a whole lot of notches below Barack Obama. http://www.examiner.com/article/limbaugh-we-are-voting-against-obama-r
omney-could-be-elmer-fudd

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They even left him hanging on the Libya attacks:

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Republicans on Capitol Hill strongly condemned the attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Libya and Egypt that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

But they’re leaving GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney out on a limb after he criticized President Barack Obama’s “disgraceful” handling of the assault — before it was known U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was among the dead.

Obama didn’t even get a mention in most GOP press statements blasted Wednesday morning.

“We mourn for the families of our countrymen in Benghazi, and condemn this horrific attack,” House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement Wednesday.

Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also declined to invoke Obama, signaling that for a second day in a row this was a time for Americans to come together and put election-year politics on hold.

In a statement late Tuesday night, Romney called Obama’s early response to the attacks on the consulate in Libya and embassy in Egypt weak and “disgraceful.”

On Wednesday morning, Romney stood by his earlier criticism, saying the Obama administration was wrong to sympathize with protesters who had breached U.S. facilities instead of condemning their actions.

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Things don't appear to be going all that well between the party and its nominee, it would seem...