Pat Caddell: Republican 'Consultant-Lobbyist-Establishment' Complex Responsible For Romney Defeat

Big Government ^ | 24 Nov 2012 | Tony Lee

[Bratch]

Speaking at The David Horowitz Freedom Center's "Restoration Weekend" in Florida on November 16, Pat Caddell indicted what he called the Republican "consultant-lobbyist-establishment" complex for losing a presidential campaign in 2012 President Barack Obama had no business winning.

“No presidential campaign should be run by consultants,” Caddell said. “They should be run by people who are committed to the candidate and not into making big money.”

Caddell said “Republicans never attempted to put a frame around the national election” because “the people who run the messaging in the Republican party and their consultants refused to do it.”

Caddell, the former Jimmy Carter adviser who consulted on the "Hope and the Change" movie that profiled disaffected Obama 2008 voters who were not going to vote for him in 2012, warned Republicans that the consultant-lobbyist-establishment complex may threaten to take the party into oblivion if not marginalized.

The Romney campaign, Caddell said, was driven be establishment consultants and was a failure of mechanics and message.

“But most of all, it was a failure of imagination,” Caddell said. ““It was the single worst campaign in modern history of a challenger who had a chance to win ... and that’s the truth and nothing can take away from that.”

[Da Bilge Troll]

Primary elections should be held on one day for every state.

Impossible (or, at least, no improvement). No candidate except an "establishment" candidate (i.e. Romney, Jeb Bush) would have the money to run a national campaign without party money and they can't have that until after they are the winning candidate.

In addition, all the states would have to agree to this (and they won't).

[itsahoot]

(with the aid of the knowing democrats) into OUR white house .

He had plenty of GOPe help as well. Name one GOPe that has defined the President. One congressman corectly stated that there were about 80 members of the communist party in Congress, and now he is no longer there.

[itsahoot]

So there's the issue out in the open. How to actually accomplish that marketing is the challenge that I haven't quite figured out yet.

We did our best. We ran a rich white guy that hates 47% of the people against a really nice man that is full of err.. hope.</sarcasm>

[ptsal]

Rove made millions out of this...what a creep.

[dfwgator]

A good candidate shouldn’t need consultants.

[Tzimisce]

Lack of leadership is what’s killing the Republican party.

With all the reaching across the aisle, it’s hard to tell the parties apart anymore.

[vaudine]

Your perception IS wrong. McCain was advised not to say anything "bad" about Obama, and ended up endorsing Obama--"He would make a god president". The consultants told McCain it would be a mistake to attack. However, there is a HUGE difference between personal attacks and comments on policy.

Romney was making huge gains after the first debate, but after that, he was advised to get back above the fray and NOT TO ATTACK Obama. We all see where that got the GOP.

Steve Schmidt, McCain's senior/main consultant is STILL making noises about the far Christian right ruining the party, when it is really he and other consultants like him giving bad advise.

Schmidt was the leader in trying to trivialize Palin's effect on McCain's campaign, when in reality, she had a much more helpful effect than Schmidts advice did. If he had gotten out of the way and McCain had grown a backbone, he could have won.

This article and Cadell's speech is on the money.

vaudine

[himno hero]

... and thats the truth.

We are in for some tough sledding.

[Pedrobud]

Are the cheaters in swing states the fault of the “Republican Establishment”?
Absolutely, without question. By failing to stop the cheating republican officials are complicit in it. There are still no complaints against the obvious fraud of 99% to 1% returns in as many as 100 districts, enough to give Obama victory in every swing state. The election was stolen and the republicans will do nothing about it. That is the greater crime against the people.

Exactly !! Where the hell are the conservatives standing ups and screaming about the fraud. WHY ?? This is total BS. The republican party has no balls to fight back on any issue. If you are in a street fight, you fight to win and the GOP wanted to be nice. WTF ?? They lost me in the future. I am a conservative and certainly not a republican.

[Taggart_D]

Its kinda hard to beat someone who is expert at stuffing the ballot box! America needs radical election reform to secure its soverienty by allowing only citizens to vote and protect the integrity of the process.

[Carry_Okie]

Campaign consultants make their money by commissions. In other words, the more money is spent the more they make. They do not make as much money in a winning campaign that spends less. Hence, the most important constituency to them is big-ticket donors: corporate lobbyists who fund BOTH sides.

The rest of us are to fall in line.

[DungeonMaster]

Absolutely, without question. By failing to stop the cheating republican officials are complicit in it. There are still no complaints against the obvious fraud of 99% to 1% returns in as many as 100 districts, enough to give Obama victory in every swing state. The election was stolen and the republicans will do nothing about it. That is the greater crime against the people.

Thank you for an excellent reason to stay home during future elections.

[newgeezer]

FR needs a “Like” or “+1” button.

Seems like their software updates happened more often back in the day...

[Just mythoughts]

My perception could be wrong, but I don’t think Romney ran THAT bad of a campaign. Obama lost lots of support from 2008, Romney gained some. It was not enough. Obama still had a huge minority vote. But I didn’t see a terrible Romney campaign. He was pretty aggressive, he didn’t back down, he romped in the first debate, held his own in the others. If I want to Monday morning quarterback, I’d say that lull before the GOP convention, they needed to go more negative on Obama as Obama was “defining” Romney to many people in the BG states.

Romney was the personification of what liberals in my living memory have accused the Republican Party of being. Rich, separatist, white country club members. The JonStewart media did what no campaign accused of the image of white 'rich' people could ever undo or even unmask. AND Romney is not conservative. He could never explain what 'free markets' unmolested by government nannies does for every American.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

That, and the fact we have a nation full of idiot voters. I think Romney ran a credible campaign—better than McCain but we underestimate the power of the press, the stupidity of the American people, the stupidity of those who are supposed to be on our side but think they can “teach someone a lesson” by helping reelect Obama and the fact we had rampant fraud.

[himno hero]

Fraud.

Nails it right on.

Barack Hussein Mohammet BinGhazi Obama.... the greatest FRAUD ever perpetrated on the American people.

[Louis Foxwell]

Thank you for an excellent reason to stay home during future elections.

Cowards and fatalists may think so. Patriots have other plans.

[DungeonMaster]

Cowards and fatalists may think so.

Excellent, another reason! You've been very instructive.