Politics: The Coming War Within the Republican Party

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Politics The Coming War Within the Republican Party GOP wise men are rushing forward with Romney post-mortems. Never a good sign. By John Dickerson Posted Tuesday, Sep 18, 2012, at 11:42 PM ET After the presidential campaign ends, think tanks and universities will invite wise partisans to explain why their party lost and how to rebound. Some Republicans are already working on their talking points. A pattern has emerged in my conversations with GOP campaign veterans over the last 10 days. Here is how these conversations usually go. First, these Republicans defend Romney. Then, they point out that it's hard to beat an incumbent president, sigh that the press is in the tank for Obama, and point out that the polls are a lot closer than the chattering class makes it seem (Please see Gallup: Obama's bounce is gone). Romney might still pull it out, they say, if he can just connect with voters or tell a better story. But then the conversation inevitably turns to the "big talk" that's going to come after the election: What's the Republican Party going to look like in the future? If Romney loses, the party's leaders must change their ways to be in sync with the modern electorate. Caveat: If the opinions of political operatives and campaign partisans were always solid, Chris Christie would have run for president, Hillary Clinton would have traded jobs with Joe Biden, and the GOP would have had a brokered convention. So, this preliminary conversation about the fissures in the Republican Party might be just the idle chatter of people not intimately involved in the Romney game plan. But there comes a moment when these conversations ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate We Are the 5 or 6 or 7 Percent How Much Voter Fraud Is There? Does Mitt Romney Want Your Vote?	Advertisement
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