The Hill has an article about operatives being unhappy with the RGA, which Mitt Romney was chairman of this cycle. Apparently, some GOP operatives think that the RGA could have done more or differently:
“If there was a message sent to the national party, (it was that) for a few weeks on TV in those states, I’m not going to promise victory for the Republicans, but the outcomes would have been drastically different,†said one Kansas GOP operative who is “legitimately annoyed†with the national party.
“They seemed to be focused on states they maybe shouldn’t have been focused on,†the operative said, referring specifically to New Mexico and Michigan, where the governors association supported Dick DeVos, who lost to Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) by 14 points despite spending $18 million of his own money.
Now why would Romney spend money in the early state of Michigan? This whole narrative is reminiscent of earlier criticisms made of Romney that he misspent money to help his 2008 Presidential run. Even the GOP candidate for governor there said that the intervention hurt her.
But what about the ad that they ran against Richardson?
The Richardson ad was disclosed to the New Mexico Secretary of State, and it is available on the governors association website. It features a cartoon Richardson bouncing around a map of the United States and suggests he is running for president instead of governor.
It makes no mention of Republican challenger John Dendahl, who in June replaced primary winner J.R. Damron as the party’s candidate.
Mitt Romney, the Chairman of the RGA, is criticizing Bill Richardson, the Chairman of the DGA for flying around the country running for President rather than being governor? Either neither did it or both did it. You don’t get it both ways Mitt.
In short, Mitt set himself a test with the RGA. And he failed.
