Mitt Romney to Democrats: Distancing yourself from Obama was ‘wrong strategy’

Analysis/Opinion

Duh. Dissing the boss cost Democrats the midterms.

That is Mitt Romney’s message to the Democratic Party. Yes, he criticized President Obama plenty during a recent event in the nation’s capital, chastising him for sending a letter to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei requesting he sign a nuclear agreement and join a U.S.-led effort against the Islamic State. Mr. Romney said he was “stunned” at the idea. But in the same session, the former presidential hopeful and relentless Republican campaigner also had some advice for the Democratic Party: sully your leadership at you own peril. According to Mr. Romney, Democrats lost the midterm election because of voter fatigue and anger - but also because they distanced themselves from Mr. Obama.

“Something that did not help the tide for my Democratic friends: They took the wrong strategy and messaging. Their message was ’I’m not President Obama. I’m as far from him as I can be.’ It simply was not credible. It was not authentic,; Mr. Romney told an audience at the Israeli-American Council Conference that ended Sunday. “It was extraordinarily short-sighted and ill-conceived to try and run as far as they did from the president. I think it would have been wiser to have said they liked what the president did here, they were proud of what he did here, there are some things he did wrong - but these things I’m proud of. That would have been a better strategy.”

Needless to say, the Democrats gave Republicans every cue they needed to win.

“Republicans, seeing what the Democrats were doing - simply got right on the bandwagon,” he continued, adding, “The stakes are high for my party, and for conservatives. Charles Krauthammer said it all on election night: Republicans should pass a bill every week, starting off with easy thing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on, then get to the tougher stuff. Because if we don’t deliver on that, we will suffer in 2016.”