CNN

mitt you are clueless ! main stream america spoke november 4 2008 when WE elected Barack Obama as President.

@Keith: I'm amazed at how short sighted and reactionary our politics have become. The republican party has problems that are a function of the political cycle we happen to be in right now. There will be a Republican in the white house ,they will control one of the two bodies of congress within a decade.So let the democrats have there day in the sun and remember that nothing in life or politics is permanent.
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I think you're forgetting one very important difference. THE DEMOGRAPHICS HAVE CHANGED. Women, young people-white and black, Hispanics, Asians, etc. are rejecting the GOP. Unless they become more accepting to those groups (a cold day in hell), I say the GOP is doomed.

I think these are the same people who were calling for all the corporations to file for bankruptcy. Hmmmmm not a bad idea..

The republicans don't have an image problem. They have a substance problem. I hope they realize this. They need to return to the Reaganesque principles and policies which made them the majority party in the first place. If they think they can just hold a few public events and keep pandering and spending like democrats, they are going to be disappointed.

Tom Delay and Newt Gingrich were openly trying to install a permanent majority in congress. That is the thinking of a Monarch. That is the thinking of an authoritarian. That is the thinking of a Nazi.

Dont be so sure your beliefs are the right ones. Times change and so should the agenda.

You can talways fight for lower taxes when taxes are the lowest they have been in modern history.

If you truly want to reduce the size of govt, realize what thet will take. You have to reduce the amount of people requiring govt assistance.

How do you do that?

Educate the people and fix health care!!!

You can not just stop the govt. You have to reduce the need for it. If you truly want to reduce the size of govt. Reduce the need for it. If no one has told you currently we need a big govt.

How do they change when the party is firmly in the hands of a bunch of brownshirts?

Same old, same old. Take off the tie. Sell a couple of your vacation homes (Romeny has been selling some of his mansions). Start slummin' it in the 'burbs. East some pizza. And if the idiots actually fall for it again, resume where you left off: waging war against the middle class and the poor. Carve up everything good about America and sell it off to the highest bidder.

Hey Mitt, who is the revolutionaries? Who was in office when things went south on Wall St. and in the housing sector? I heard an observation once that; " A conservative is someone who believes that nothing should be tried for the first time." A fitting description for the party of NO.

The tendancy for the Republicans to harden up over on the right will only further isolate them. They can paint themselves into a corner but it will only mean more defections from moderates.

"You can put lipstick on a pig, but its still a pig"

part of the problem with the repubs is this nit wit... he seems to be on the samo, samo track, which is exactly where the dems want him... welcome to the 2010 loser circle mitt the nit wit...

AND pray tell, whose fault is it that the GOP has taken "licks" as Romney says. Who is responsible for our good pay benefit jobs going overseas. Who is responsible for the failure of banks allowed to roam unchecked. Who was responsible for the lack of response to the Katrina disaster. Who was responsible for the failing to find the anthrax killer who targeted democrats and liberal leaning newspapers. THE GOP THAT'S WHO. And why should any normal, red blooded true American want that type of party to take control again. Darn we wouldn't have country left if republicans get them hands on it again.

the grand old party of NO is so out of touch. maybe after a couple more elections. the gop will understand that the working class has had enough . wonder weres palin another two faced liar? john king
snake oil media t.v. tabloid personality isnt really helping the repub.
imageeather

Looks like a good start. If Republicans can abolish their message of hate, they will do just fine in 2010.

At last..... The ivory tower of white supremacy is finally coming down. I am so happy. Not to offend, but this is destined to happen. The founding fathers of this beautiful country knew it, past presidents knew it,the KKK knew and knows it,and quiet as it's kept, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity,Coulter, (and the rest ...here on Racist Island) knows it as well(You can tell by their actions and words). This is not just a white man's world anymore. This is a world for the black, brown, red, yellow,and white. The Republican Party went from Prime Rib to taco meat. Thank you also CNN for positve and in-depth news.

It does seem , reading these comments, that the people of America have had their fill of the Republican Party. I wonder if it would be of any use to forward these comments to the Chair of the RNC. Probably not! Just an idea I thought might help them in their new, "grass root efforts, from the bottom up " Then I remembered that that approach was used before, and I don´t think the Republicans want to be copy cats... Oh well, I guess they will find their way sometime in the future.

Hey Mitt – stop staring at the rock in your hat, it's softening your brain!Calling dems "monarchists" is the dumbest thing you've said since you quit the prez race! And the republicants you're saying it to have got to be equally as stupid for accepting it from you.
Yep, you guys (women are excluded of course) are really on track to reinvent the GOP – If you live in the 19th century or Utah...

Romney said ""We are the party of the revolutionaries, they [Democrats] are the party of the monarchists."

Well he has his head screwed on backwards and has no sense of history:

Thomas Jefferson said:
"Men by their constitutions are naturally divided
into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust
the people, and wish to draw all powers from them
into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who
identify themselves with the people, have confidence
in them, cherish and consider them as the most
honest and safe, although not the most wise
depositary of the public interests. In every country
these two parties exist, and in every one where they
are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare
themselves. Call them, therefore, Liberals and Serviles,
Jacobins and Ultras, Whigs and Tories, Republicans
and Federalists, Aristocrats and Democrats, or by
whatever name you please, they are the same
parties still and pursue the same object. The last
one of Aristocrats and Democrats is the true one
expressing the essence of all."

People keelp complaining about higher taxes, but the plan has been to go back to the tax level during the Clinton administration for people making more than $250,000 and cut taxes for those making less. when you look at how much we tax compared to other contries we are not taxed that much at all. We also do not get the services from the government that other countries get as well. Call them socialist but they are providing services for our money. That to me is more of an investment that is need as opposed to war spending that has little return of investment.

If the GOP will just stop distorting facts and good ideas with smear than I will start listening to them. Right now it's smear, smoke, and no good ideas.

I live around libs like Steve from Somerset in an ultra blue area. His lib lying is just norm for them, libs like that have been dishonest and immoral their whole lives. It is not just their politcs, its the libness on the highways, using their car as a weapon, their 10 year old kids swearing and being violent ETC.

If you are not like this then join the party of personal responsibility, class, respect, and integrity.

For fun research all of any lib's lies, see how dishonest they are. Then take the most extremist right winger you can and reserch what they say. Even Coulter, Rush, and Hannity are more honest, fair and respectful than any Democrat in America today, amazing but true, see for yourself!

And the word for today is...They were calling the Democrats radicals and socialists during the election...and now suddenly they are monarchists. Me thinks someone got a new dictionary.

as long as there are people like Romney, and other people that listen to that type of self-serving bs, the American people will always be an afterthought.

It's probably too late now but the Republicans did have a great chance after the inauguration to get back into the good graces of the public and at least appear that they cared more about the people than their own re-elections. Instead of yelling, blustering and throwing down copies of the stimulus they could have admitted that the Democrats did take out many things and added others to please them and that they would vote for it because the country was in dire straights and needed immediate help. Instead of playing politics, several Republican governors should have gladly taken all of the stimulus money for infrastructure, schools, health care etc because that directly helped their own constituents. Instead of acting like know- it -all bullies and saying NO to everything, they could have seemed more concerned about the good of the country. They should not have punished those Senators who voted their conscience and for what they felt was best for their constinuents. They should admit that their grandchildren were already going to shoulder a huge debt for many years caused by the huge Iraq war debt. At least this administration's debt is going back into your own country. They should have told people like Limbaugh, Coulter, Beck, Dodds, McConnell, Boehner,Gullianni, Hannity, Romney, Gingrrich, Cheney, etc. to control their anger and refrain from the hateful, bitter rhetoric because that is now how they are being labelled and remembered. There are tons of video clips of their rants and displays of arrogance that prove how intolerant they are. They missed a perfect chance to act as team players and help your country NOW and then in a year or so when the country is back on track, then they could start their political posturing at a more approprtate time.. This was not the time to play politics. They missed the boat.

Putting a silk hat on a pig doesnt change the fact that it is and always wil be a (believe or not) pig.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and why would American people listen to the one who help his brother win the election in 2000 and Jeb Bush you are the last person to be giving American any advise. THE BUSH FAMILY IS DONE FOR GOOD! YOUR BROTHER BROUGHT THIS COUNTRY TO IT'S KNEES!

Unfortunately, the GOP has managed to become the "exclusive" party. If you're not a right-wing evangelical Southerner, you can't feel included in the Republican party.

Basically, it's the "Christians-only" Republican party of mean-spiritedness.

It's sad.

The republicans are definitely NOT the party of the revolutionaries. Judging by the income gap & haves vs have nots, the republicans would fit the "monarchists" label to a tee. Talk about delusional!

New America and what are the rest of us old Ameicans you racist bigs?

The Liberal Dems would have some validity if it weren't for that media brain washing that was impaled into there thick sculls for the last eight years!

And by the way...they should all be listening to Meghan McCain.

Jeb Bush?? Living in Florida, I can tell you Georgie's brother is a bit smarter, more articulate – but he's got the same political philosophy as every other Republican. He screwed public education here – caved to every land developer that greased the Florida budget – couldn't care less about our environment... oh yeah, he's the guy to rebrand the GOP...

Different face same old song until the Republicans get out of everybody private lives they are going to continue to go down the drain!

It appears that "Steve from Summerset" captured the whole picture of the fall from power of the Republican Party... Great job Steve. It´s to bad there are so many uninformed responders to these comments. People like Steve will keep Pres. Obama in office for a full two terms.

Mitt Romney is a complete moron...Dems are the party of monarchist's? How many drinks before he came up with that one?

Liberals are scared of Mitt Romney

I'd PAY to see a debate between Obama and Romney on economic issues

If the economy hasn't recovered come 2012, Obama is going to have serious trouble with Romney

What a joke ...

The Republican party trying to reshape their image ...

Like water trying to look like sand ...

Laugh Out Loud ...

they (repugs) are delusional and a bunch of idiots........the party of toddlers who just say "no" . they got us to where we are today......a recession heading to a depression, two wars and a third on the way (Pakistan), health costs out the roof, deficits that our great-grand children will be paying off, and they want us to fire the people that are fixin' their screw-ups........they announce a make-over for themselves and it's the same clowns in make-up......maybe in another 50 years they maybe become the majority but I pray to GOD ...Not now Lord ...Not now.....

CNN, here are your followers. A huge pack of liberals and NOTHING else. I couldn't find one conservative voice in the whole crowd of comments.

It reminds me of the MSM, a bubble of like-minded people telling each other how great they are. Completely devoid of substance.

Open your eyes and your ears, the country is heading down a dangerous path that won't be easy to return from. If you really are "liberal," how about thinking about your "liberties" for once?? Our government has grown out of control, and we are drowning in debt. Good for Romney for pointing it out.

Until the Republicans distance themselves from Rush Limbaugh, and the divisive rhetoric of the Sarah Palin Campagne rallys, they will never regain control of the government....

The philosophy of tearing down political opponents and name calling doesn't address the problems of our country....

Further adding to the image of Republicans is this modest attempt to act as if the past administration has nothing to do with the current economic problems that we face today, makes Republicans appear to not MERIT TRUST...

Republicans need to start by purging Rush Limbaugh, this is a number one priority for Republican Survival, they have to do something to combat the image of Rush Limbaugh being a PROMINENT LEADER....

Sarah Palin's pick as VP obviously bought John McCains campagne to a new low, well Rush Limbaugh is having the same effect on the Republican party......

I used to be democrat, now am independent. I believe our elected officials should represent and protect it's people over their party. Both parties are guilty of this (Pelosi, Reid, Richardson and Steele, Rush, Laura).

Democrats are obviously ahead but we do need checks and balances. The Republicans need to get a message, the right message if they are to survive. To do that, they need to drop their extreme right hardcore views to move forward. Meghan McCain I feel is right and good for her to speak out for her party (one that needs to represent the people in these times).

Not one of these people is a fresh face. They tried to introduce Jindal to America.......we all know how that went......embarrassing!!! Now their own base is protesting against them. They want to listen to the American people........sure they do. They thought McCain and his crack-pot running mate were going to win. When they woke up from that fantasy they learned that not only were they going to lose, but they were losing in what used to be Republican areas. Show some guts you pansies. Obama has held town meetings and press conferences in Republican districts, and he still packs them in. These losers don't have those kinds of guts! These meetings aren't meant to make the party seem inclusive. These meetings are the Republicans trying to win over their own people. Sad!!!

The Republican Party is on the road to extinction.

It's going to take a looong time for the Republicans recup !!! With this 50's behavior they are going no place !!! We are in the 21 century and for now and on, with Obama being a progressive president (energy,enviroment etc) I don,t see any regressive Republican in power for the next 20 years !!!

Romney needs to review his history again. The progressive agenda has always belonged to revolutionaries. Conservatives are more like the monarchy. Look at the kind of special absolute power Bush wielded. He treated the Oval Office like a throne. The power he was given wasn't even enough for him and he was always looking to expand it.

The GOP hardliners are getting desperate. They fear of becoming just a regional party.

The party of no plans,no ideas, and only criticism is waking up after all these years.

CNN: Why is it that all of John King's blogs are always closed with few comments?

Obviously you people can't take the criticism of this GOP backer's so called "State of the Union (the most boring four hours on television)!!

Just a case of dishing it out but not being able to take it???

Until they apologize to American People of lies and illegal wars!!

Did they pay for the pizza and drinks to get people there? Was this a free event or did folks have to purchase tickets?Are they planning to go to inner cities to talk with those voters? You know, the ones they have overlooked in the past or are they just going to stay in affluent areas?

And a piece of advice...leave anyone named Bush at home...saying Jeb is smarter than George really isn't saying much....

The GOP has become the party of "No" and cannot win future elections while placating their base with negative, anti-immigrant, xenophobic messages. They have become the party of yesterday and the Dems are the party of tomorrow.

Why doesn’t someone ask Jeb Bush how he, privatizing services in the State of FL has worked out? If spending 70% more for services while creating layers and layers of administration-bureaucracies to conduct these services is a good fix, we are definitely in trouble.

He fired all those State employees, just to create new "privatized" bureaucracies all the while paying themselves much more than any state worker without regulation of how the money is being spent and the irony is that all the upper management of these privatized organizations are prior state employees being funded by tax payer dollars.

Moreover, since none of these private organizations, now contracted with the state, actually raise income, isn’t privatized just a word used to fool the people. All funding for these “privatized” organizations is taxes, yours and mine and the service they provide is costing us millions more.

What a joke, he helped make FL less financially secure.

Please Jeb stay out of government, your loathing for government does not allow you a clear perspective to create policy, especially when your main accomplishment alone was bankrupting the state so all your friends can have high-ticket contracts and get rich without any oversight.

Hellooooooooo, GOP! You guys just don't get it: The American people want substance from their leaders, not just pretty packaging.

Barack Obama won the Presidency because he spent 22 MONTHS campaigning all across the country – not just in the Blue states, but in every state. Why? Because he wanted to be President of the United States of America. He wanted to listen and talk to everyone and not just play to his "base".

That kind of dedication, stamina and perserverance are what won him the election. Because during that time, the electorate had the opportunity to hear him and see him many, many times. He was interviewed, vetted, rumored-about and in general, lived under a microscope. And what happened?

- We learned Barack Obama has intellect and the temperament for the job of President of the U.S. and leader of the free world;

- We saw his ability to stand up with grace and maturity to adversity from his opponents from within and without his party;

- We saw in him the kind of leader our country needs during these very challenging times.

No amount of "image make-over" will fix the GOP; they need to change from the party of divisive, hateful, untruthful, power- and money-hungry people to a party that truly wants to bring people together for the betterment of all of us, and not just their select "club".

They're clueless, I don't see how bringing out the same old people (with the exception of Jindal, the token minority guy) can possibilly change their image. They've even got a Bush!

Jeff May 2nd, 2009 4:47 pm ET
As someone once said, you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig!
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You got that right - and I'm talking about the libs here!

Reshape their image?You can't make chicken salad from chicken........

With deep respect for Romney and all so-called conservatives, religiously-righteous folks...

You can bet that Romney touches himself just as often as you, me, the Boston child abusing priests (the Vatican folks that protected them for decades), Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig, Ted Haggard, etc. do!

And basic biology seems to indicate that your hands share the same genetic makeup with the rest of your body!

They are the same old men trying to revive and old party of old white men, with old ideas...............

What the Dopes for Nope group don't get is that the PR nonsense of words over deeds has been uncovered. We know the tricks of the GOP and underneath the words is the same mean, uncaring, divisive, no new ideas that we've had for the last 8 years. Sorry Mitt and Jeb, you still represent the 1% of money in this country, the same deregulation for big companies, banks, and your 'no tax' BS is only for the big guy. Holding a PR 'we're back' Klan rally doesn't convince anyone that you understand how YOU brought America down. Remember Jeb, how you stole the election for your brother? That Florida is long gone. And Mitt, how many states are you going to run away from, before you can claim success as a leader. A bunch of losers, the whole lot. Why don't you wait a decade and THEN recreate yourselves.

Nancy May 2nd, 2009 4:21 pm ET

No only have they become the party of NO- they are the party with NO leaders.
_____________________________________________________
Republicans are the party of no? Hmm. Let’s see.
Allow unborn children to live? Democrats just say “no”
Protect Americans by providing temporary, minor discomfort to people who slaughtered thousands of Americans? Democrats just say “no”
Use energy sources that have been proven to work well and drill for said energy sources? Democrats just say “no”
Allow poor minorities to have a choice in the education of their children? Democrats just say “no”
Give tax breaks to small business owners so that they can afford to hire those poor minorities? Democrats just say “no”
Allow companies who made poor management decisions to learn from their mistakes? Democrats just say “no”
Allow law abiding citizens to purchase and carry weapons with few regulations? Democrats just say “no”
Allow the government to wiretap the phones of those who pose a potential threat? Well, Obama says “yes” but most Democrats just say “no”

Who is the party of “no”?

The party of no leaders, vision, intelligence, diversity, or ideas. Just no – sense. If I have to hear Palin with her run on, no ending, non-sensible sentences again........Or Joe the non Plumber whose name is not Joe or see Rush Limburgh jumping up and down like he asked his maid to get him some more drugs again...... ha, ha, ha. Get lost Republicans.

Here's a way to reshape the party: new faces

Republican's you can stick a fork in it. You're done. Palin, Alan Keyes, Limbaugh, Joe the Plumber, Ann Coulter, Steele... and you know we can go on. Forget about it. Your the party of low I.Q. toting your guns – losers. No not all, but far too many.

Wow, they really are out of touch with reality aren't they? It isn't the GOP's image that needs to change, but their political philosophy. Only a benighted few still subscribe to their politics of division, intolerance, militantism, laissez-faire capitalism and hatred. The modern Republican Party has become the antithesis or the American political idyll. The only real change will come when they purge the party of the ultra-right wing element and return to their roots of real fiscal conservatism, the idea that government stays out of the private lives of citizens, and "it it ain't broke, don't fix it." The party pays lip service to these ideas, but they no longer practice them.

It's pretty simple, really.

Ignore the religious extremists.
Break away from the people that incite hatred of anyone that's not like them and doesn't agree with them on every issue.

Re-establish two priorities that used to be important to Republicans:
1) Fiscal responsibility. This means balanced budgets with a tax rate that can cover government spending. (That means all spending, including "supplemental" spending for things like wars.) The Republicans went astray when their goal changed from balancing the budget to cutting taxes no matter how far in debt that puts us.
2) Keeping the government out of people's lives. This used to be important to Republicans. Now they seem to have no problem with government mandates that support things they believe in. They need to get back to keeping government out of people's lives as much as possible. That means letting them choose who they want to have sex with, what medical decisions to make about their own bodies, and other things like curtailing the excessive restrictions that the TSA has imposed.

Do those things and I might vote for Republicans again. As long as they continue to try to impose their particular religious beliefs on everyone, use the government as a tool to advance their outdated ideas, and vilify anyone that dares disagree with them, I'll be voting for someone else.

Touche 'The Unshrub' - so funny....Just the other day they were indeed spouting something else (don't recall at moment)....
**************************************************************************
But get this; In another article, they said they left Washington for the 'burbs' because "Obama and the Democrats control Washington." Dare I say copy cats? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't President Obama begin the concept of leaving DC to meet with everyday Americans (Townhall Mtgs)? How ironic that now they are attempting to paint Washington as 'too establishment' because they feel powerless. If the tables were turned, you can bet they would be in Washington doing their thing.

It's too funny.....They knew they needed a person of diversity, and didn't dare bother with Steele, because he is too toxic. So they took Jindal along....Steele is head of the party, and he's not even a member of their council for a new America....

I am so in love with politics right now....No one on the "West Wing" tv show could have written a dramedy such as is unfolding before our eyes.....Not even Spielberg could have scripted what we are now witnessing.....I am absolutely thrilled about my President, VP, and their families. We have an A+ administration. The world is taking notice....Peace.

As someone once said, you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig!
I still can't believe the party of family values may let Palin or Gingrich run to get the nomination in 2012. As Palin would say: Well, alright, yep, that's rebuilding the GOP image alright,

The Republican Party deserves to be where it is today.

It controlled the White House and both houses of Congress when the events of 9/11 occurred, it failed to capture or kill Osama ben Laden, it never apprehended those responsible for the anthrax attack, it launched an unjustified invasion without sufficient manpower, and sent many of our soldiers into combat without body armor.

It claimed to be pro-life even as the President attended the Olympics in China, a nation where abortion is compulsory. It pushed for elections in Gaza and the West Bank leading to the Hamas victory. It strengthened Iran by devastating its unfriendly neighbor Iraq. It poured billions in aid to Pakistan even as that government's leadership sought an armistice with the Taliban.

It told us it knew where the weapons of mass destruction were, that our troops would be welcomed as liberators, that the cost of the invasion would be covered by Iraqi oil revenue, proclaimed Mission Accomplished, and refused to fire the stunningly incompetent Secretary of Defense until after the November 2006 elections.

It presided over the drowning of an American city, politicized the Justice Department, turned a surplus into a deficit, allowed our Southern border to remain virtually wide open, sought to federalize our local schools with No Child Left Behind, and ignored the warning signs as our economy approached the precipice.

Should anyone be surprised that the Republican Party has lost control of Congress and the Presidency? It belongs in political purgatory and may follow in the footsteps other once great parties such as the Federalists and the Whigs.

They need some values and integrity. GOP administrations need a cabinet not a cluster flock!!!

How about no parties at all! How about people running on their own beliefs and not those of their party. How about term limits on all politicians so they can't be in office long enough to become self-serving of their own best interests and not those of the general populace.

As a life long republican until last year, I am now an independent. Enough of the republicans and democrats. Neither party cares about the people, they only care about their own platforms that will best serve their party's belief.

sorry...I meant to say both their old men head men and their out of touch crony Snake Oil media expect us to believe they have a chance in hell of redeeming themselves? The are out of touch, out of ideas, and out of lies that work... and they have dug themselves into a hole and they are not smart enough to stop digging!

Mitt Romney is one of the MEANEST people I have ever had to endure in my life, having had to watch him use the populace and political stereotyping of Massachusetts residents to his advantage as a vehicle for presidency. To use this utterly divisive, two-faced at every moment just to spit out the right phrase for the press, SLICK face job is just the kind of desperate attempt to woo back the same false sense of power the Republican party just got ripped out from under them.

These are last year's top Republicans trying to re-start their old campaigns. The conservative voters will choose their own leaders, thanks, but no thanks, media.

Grief... Romney now wants to mis-align the Brits. Nice go Mit. Thought we won that war a long nuber of years ago AND they were are most trusted allies since then.

Goes to show, be a winner 200 yrs ago, set a framework of mutual respect and work together against foes. Now find that Mit is still stuck in the 1700's and anti- Brit.

Maybe Mit, should find a new venue where where what happened 2-10k yrs ago is carvered in stoned and he is the only 'reader' of that stone.

If Mit can provide a solution [or any] to any of the problems, I'd listen.
So far................ Just a bunch of has beens. GOP – means G [Gone] O[Off] P[People]. So has he without a clue with his $$$ funding his butt.

"We are the party of the revolutionaries, they [Democrats] are the party of the monarchists," he told the overwhelmingly Republican crowd, saying the Republicans needed to "once again lead the American Revolution."
That's FUNNY! The Monarchissts were Conservatives! If we liberals had listened to them we would still be following the Queen.

The grand ole party is in trouble and both their old men head men expect us to believe they have a chance in hell to redeem themselves!

Obviously, they think most of us have already forgotten the last 8 years and now believe that Obama and the dems are responsible for the mess we are in! It's almost too ludicrous to believe! And they wonder why they are sinking into the Abyss.... ?

Romney is nothing but empty words. He flip-flops like nobody else.

It's clear that the three at this meeting (Cantor, Bush, Romney) all have presidential aspirations. Don't trust any of 'em.

When Cap and Trade [Energy Tax] comes even more people will wake up.......

Big Goverment

Higher Taxes

Heads will turn

GOP 2010-2012

If the Republicans had proved in the first SIX years of this decade when they had total power, that they actually CARED about this country and it's people and the people of the world at large, the WORLD and the US would be much, much better, SAFER, happier place.

I just can't image a 'party' or town hall meeting with Cantor, Romney, and Bush would enthuse anybody. The GOP will never get it – They are obsolete and irrelevant.

The GOP should just disband. Let true conservatives join the Libertarian Party and let the rest of the ex-Republicans retreat to the "Leave-it-to-Beaver" neverland they've created in their intolerant fearmongering delusions.

I am not even sure what a Republican is anymore. That's the problem. Which party (really) supports the constitution, believes that we should finally get around to immigration reform and stays out of the lives of Americans as much as possible? I'm with them.

how about instead of an American Revolution you just try to be more human

I thought god Mormons did not indulge in illegal drug usage?/? The Dems are more like the Revoltionist, they stand for the common man. The GOP have always looked after the "haves." Talk about reversing roles

Is this the best that the Republican Party has???? It is laughable, these are the same people that are voting NO to everything that this administration proposes without offering any solutions to problems!! This is the party that brought us to the worst economic mess that we are in, They should all drop out from politics!!! Glad to be a DEM!

The GOP cheated their way to winning the 2000 election and lied about the war in Iraq. Who's stupid enough to trust them now? Their so called "real" American standards are actually un-American and farthest from the founding father's principles. I hope the Libertarians rise to the opening. The ignorant GOP intolerance is simply unbearable for modern America.

No only have they become the party of NO- they are the party with NO leaders. If this is the best they can come up with it is said. Romney got it wrong-GOP were the monarchists that just lost the war to the revolutionaries. They lost because their base is becoming smaller everyday. The Democrats figured out a way to appeal to many diverse groups. The GOP is a one-note party at this moment-sad to see.

Let's face it, the Republican party is in the midst of a power struggle between moderates who would like to see a party for all the people and conservatives who would like to anchor the party at the far right and drive off anyone who doesn't think, talk, dress or look like they do.

The GOP is the party of NO: NO to equal rights; NO to equal opportunity; NO to equal pay for women and minorities; NO to saving the environment; NO to preventing businesses from cheating the poor; NO to supporting the American economy and the average American; NO to thinking for yourself. As long as they remain this party of NO, then I will say NO to the GOP in the voting booth. They will not get another vote from me as long as this bunch of hypocrites are around.

As far as I'm concerned, the social conservatives can have the Republican party. It's time for average Americans to form a third party that represents the middle class and let the right wing sit alone in the corner and sulk.

Also, please quit trying to pass this movement off as a grass roots affair. It is being created and manipulated by the GOP organization and is no more grass roots than the Super Bowl half-time show.

You can sugar coat the outside, but we all know that the inside is still rotten. The fact is that your party will never win the White House again ,the one / two punch of Bush / Cheney made sure of that. Our great Country can't withstand another crooked Republican in power. Obama 2012 , Clinton 2016 and 2020.

Romney expects people to believe Republicans are the party of revolutionary progressive ideas and the Democrats represent the entrenched establishment? Good luck with that. Next he'll be saying the Republicans are the party of inclusion and the Dems are a bunch of old white rich men.

It will NEVER happen ...... The REPUBLICANS lived in a world of hate and devisive politics, they never cared for anyone but themselves and pushed the POOR and HELPLESS to the side, this is what is known as KARMA all of the HATE they put out for 8 years....... and it destroyed them......... Thank GOD

The resolve of the GOP and the true conviction of most Americans favoring SMALLER government will secure their prominence again in 2010

The Republican attitude sucks, they act like there are the only chosen ones to lead. Their myopic perspective is the first thing that the needs to be thrown out if they want to start making any progress. Don’t try to make the other side look so scary, after it was your party who treated torturing as if it was nothing. The best advice I can give republicans is to practice being more humble.

Where is Sara Palin; since your party thinks that she is so outstanding. Your party placed itself in the position that it is in; from day one you have tried to destroy everything this President has attempted to do but you offer no better solutions. You have been such sore losers that it is now pathetic to constantly observe all this. WISE UP.

Did Jeb display any of his famous humor? Like when he declared, in a public, official meeting of Florida's cabinet, that San Francisco being destroyed by wildfires would be a "good thing for the country?" Or when he told allies and lobbyists at a formal dinner, with many reporters in attendance, that he had some "devious plans" if the citizens of Florida dared to gather enough signatures to place a referendum he didn't support on the ballot? If you thought W was bad, Jeb is exponentially worse – he has no qualms about putting his party before his constituents, and there's nothing he loves more than trampling the civil rights of those he disagrees with. Just ask Terri Schiavo's family...

It seems to me, the Republican rebranding effort will begin to succeed when they quit lying (about Obama, taxes, Wall Street/Banking deregulation, trade, torture, patriotism, National Security, health care reform...) and start cooperating to solve the nation's very serious problems, none of which started with W (well maybe torture did, as did lying about Iraqi WMDs, and warrantless wiretapping...), and join Obama in getting our government focussed on solving problems instead of whining about them.

The problem is that the GOP truly feels that their current platform is the right one but that the issue is that the people just "don't understand it" or that the GOP just as an image problem.

Until the GOP recognizes that they need to change their platform to appeal to the 21st century citizen, all they will be doing is, to use a common phrase, putting lipstick on a pig.

Ask me again next year.

Reshaping the party's image...I dunno about that. Leopards don't usually change their spots.

Sounds like Romney was out in the sun too long. I doubt many people will agree with him that the Republicans are the revolutionaries. Sounds a bit like self-aggrandizement.

How out of touch can they be. The economy went to the septic tank under the republican parties watch. The republican(s), fawn over, and court the rich in the nation, while turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the workers. They talk of tax cuts, while the prices of everyday essentials rise to heights not seen before, and never look att he damage done to the consumer, only the money re-generated to the rich. They dont see price increases as a form of taxation Remember 4.00 dollar plus per gallon gas. Talk about tax increases.

I mean come on. Youve got Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney trying to help the Republican party get out of this mess. This is a joke. These are the same people that followed the Bush administration right down to the end of the GOP. We need new Republicans with good fresh ideas and not the same old jokes, these guys put on. Americans is smarter than this. Long live true Republicans.

It seems to me that a majority of mainstream America thinks differently than you and has for the last two years. We already had the revolution, and it was handily won by people who think differently than you do.

If the Republicans really want to reshape thier party's image, they are going to have to start fighting for working people and stop fighting for corporate executives and their outrageous salaries.

Having people like Mitt Romney as one of the GOP "poster boys," only strengthens the public's perception that the GOP is the party of the rich and affluent, and doesn't give a rat's behind about the poor and the middle class.

Mitt Romney-The best President a CEO could ever have.

Mitt Romney is the face of the republican party. Too bad he's also anchor weighing them down.

"...Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney compared the GOP to Americans fighting the British during the Revolutionary War. "We are the party of the revolutionaries, they [Democrats] are the party of the monarchists," he told the overwhelmingly Republican crowd, saying the Republicans needed to "once again lead the American Revolution."

Sorry Mitt, this is one of the key reasons the GOP is in this mess. You cannot assume that everyone who disagrees with you is an enemy. I agree with Jeb Bush, you need to listen and learn.

Geez, these guys don't get it...........THEY are a BIG part of the problem!!! The first thing the Republican Party needs to do is dump the same old crop of angry,right-wing white men (and women) and develop moderate leaders that will pull the party of "No" and extremism back into the mainstream.

The GOP leadership should just put out an economic plan on how they envision to turn the economy around..I don't want to hear a bunch of the same old stuff, cut taxes. Cutting taxes in the last Adm didn't produce much but fast food jobs and more government jobs and more $ to the top 1%. To hear them complain about the Dems when the last election clearly spelled out what direction the american people wanted to go is nothing more than sour grapes. Just about every republican that is still holding office today during the Bush adm rubberstamped everything he wanted. Sure, they bellyached, but in the end, they gave him what they wanted. They bellyached to their constituents about Obama's stimulus package and budget, but in the end, they got in their pork and tax cuts, voted no, and will still get their pork and stimulus money. I guess they must think their supporters are pretty dumb not to figure it out.

Romney, ROMNEY says, "We have an advantage... the GOP had [has] the option of drawing its strategy from the grassroots." Does he mean teabagging. Good grief, what a joke!!

The genius goes on to say, "We don't have to come up with all the answers today. Thank goodness, we have a little time," he said. "Certainly by 2010, we better."

How about an adult, reasonable, cogent set of policy positions NOW to add to the geopolitical debate here and abroad that don't include general hate and fear, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and on and on!!

What a sad state of affairs. We need a viable (at least) second party. What we have is a shrinking (Thank God) group of extremist, obstructionist buffoons.

Again, the facts are : housing, the economy, energy prices, etc. all started BEFORE President Obama took office.

The Republicans will always be the same, a party with the same old ideas. I did not hear any new ideas. No alternatives on education, health care, controlling big business, controlling the insurance companies, improving the environment, improving foreign relations, etc.

They only care about cutting taxes for BIG Business and Deregulation on everything. This policy started with President Reagan and was rampt up by President G. Bush. WE now know these policies do not work.

It's unfortunate that Jeb shares the Bush name, because he's one of the few who are making any sense. The Republican party is clearly divided into two groups. One that believes social issues come before responsible governance. And the other that still adheres to the traditional party roots of fiscal conservatism and limited government.

The problem is thet the social conservatives are claiming to be traditional Republicans, but don't come even close to acting that way.

The ones who are decrying government spending were the same ones voting Yes to the blank checks 6 months ago. America is watching.

The ones voting against "socialism" were the ones ignoring it six months ago and then handing out vision statements as their current plan. America is watching.

Sorry Mitt, but if the social conservatives pretending to be "Republicans" don't come up with a plan fast and act on it. And if that plan is not consistant with fiscal responsibility, limited government, and a constructive foreign policy. You're going to start seing more states turn blue.

Never forget that 80% of America is moderate in their beliefs. And in the absense of real leadership, most people will follow the next closest thing. And right now, the Democrats are the only ones with a tangible plan and they are following through with it. And America is watching.

Wow... That almost sounds like the Project for a New American Century... PNAC... A semi secret society that has world wide connections and asperations to overthrow various governments throught the world by force (war) if necessary, with Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the George Bush thugs leading the charge..... What ever this new group is calling them selves, they, the GOP might color it in a different shade of yellow but it's still the same old GOP.. All lies and hate....

Campaigning already for the next election. The Republicans know what went wrong, they are the party of exclusion. This is nothing but a publicity stunt. It's really sad that our country has come to nothing but two parties trying to be number 1 and to heck with the people. I hope in the next election those that don't want to work together find themselves gone. Democrats and Republicans alike, until those in office leave, this country will go nowhere.

Anyone notice that Tina Fey, oh sorry, I mean Sarah Palin wasn't part of this 'event'....... Always lovin herself and self absorbing Sarah is one of the top 2 reasons the GOP is in deep, deep trouble. So long as Sarah, Rush and Sean 'I love money' Hannity try to speak for the GOP, I'd say they ain't got a chance of making inroads in 2010. Maybe it's time for the GOP to tell those 3 stooges to take a hike...

The GOP has marginalized itself into sheer irrelevance.

Good campaign to reshape their party's image. Good to connect with voters.

Mitt Romney is the last person the GOP should trot out as an example of a 'new party'. He's as arrogant as Bush 44 .. not the kind of leader America needs.

I hope the GOP keep trotting out Romney, Gingrich, and all the other loonies who, when in control, did exactly the opposite of what they touted and left America in really bad shape.

Ronald Reagan was all smoke and mirrors. "Borrow and Spend". Between Reagan and the two Bushes, they account for 90% of our national debt. Just what did we get for that money? Nothing tangible I can see.

So they are going to meet to get their story straight so they can all go out into their respective districts and tell the same lies. Great idea.

Unfortunately, some of the big names in the Republican Party are the very ones that are very much out of touch with America. Cantor, McCain, Romney, ....people who seem too arrogant to 'listen'. I'll be surprised if there is any change coming from this group. Until the Republican Party is ready to help the 'ordinary' American, not just corporate America, they offer nothing. The reason they can't say 'yes' to anything President Obama brings forth is because they are mentally unable to move forward. They are stuck in the ways of the past....unable to embrace the fact that they are no longer the 'deciders'. Americans are smarter and more educated than in the past, and we want a share in deciding what happens here. We also want some rights (like AFFORDABLE health insurance) that other countries have had for a long time. We're tired of the Republicans stamping their feet and yelling 'No, no, no'....while they enjoy what is denied to so many of us.

Mitt Romney knows more about the economy than any potential
GOP nominee. He certainly knew more than John McCain, who
never saw the downturn in the economy until – - like the iceberg
that hit the Titanic – - it was too late. This is how Romney beat
McCain in the Michigan primary. Too bad the dumb GOP voters
didn't take heed. They went with nostalgia rather than chose
someone who ran a state and a business. Obama wants change
but is afraid to go the distance, and so surrounds himself with
Bill Clinton's spin doctors and shady cronies. The people still
distrust big government, and that's all Obama and his cronies
want. Types like Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano mean trouble
ahead. They are idealogues, not uniters; and Obama will suffer
the consequences.

Well if the new Republicans were meeting in a pizzeria then
maybe they can get the Italian vote next.

Step 1: Get rid of those who betrayed the traditional Republican small government and fiscally conservative philosophies by enormously ramping up the size and intrusiveness of government and increasing the size of the Federal debt to unprecedented proportions .

Step 2: Get rid of those who betrayed the traditional Republican respect for individuals, and individual rights, by attempting to impose tenets of their religion on those who do not subscribe to their religion.

The first thing they can do is to tell Norm Coleman to take his defeat like a man and they can let Franken be seated. They are feeling the effects of 8 years of a president who got his seat through the Supreme Court. The person with the most votes did not win the presidency. Are they trying the same thing with Norm Coleman? So much for a shinier image.

The Republicans are in bigger trouble than a listening tour will fix.
The people that have taken over the party are the Aryan biggots and the survivalists. They listen too, and agree with the sewer coming out of Limbaughs mouth. The ignorant woman that stood up at the McCain rally and said that Obama was a terrorist muslum and she was scared of him is what you are now attracting. You have been pandering to this ignorant element of the party, not really caring about their hate issues just telling them what they want to hear to get their vote. You are now in a free fall that is impossible to stop.
If you need the Limbaugh crowd voting for you, to save the party, the Republicans of my parents party is over. As far as us the fiscal conservatives and all of the social moderates they will find a home even if it is a new party.
To save the party you need to listen to Colin Powell and Megan McCain. Only they can save the party.

The people want Ron Paul. Just recycling the same vision will never work. Ron Paul supporters have taken over and they will not support the same top down crowd. The bottom up platform is the only way. The Ron Paul people are true conservatives.

Some makeover.

The same party that once revered Joe McCarthy and his tactics now worships Rush Limbaugh and his intolerance.

So what has changed in the GOP?

Image is not the problem. The problem is that the party has been catering to its right-most wing for years.

While you're at it Mr Romney why don't you help Charley Manson improve his image also.... should be just as easy.

Oh yes mister cult member super rich hair product sales man 5.0, and yet another bush? And don't forget the "new" grand wizard cantor form the hate filled new confederacy. Oh yes they are really going to give a new direction – scam 20000000000.0 for the liars of the GOP that are the same old ones that destroyed our country. And don't forget mr the economy is fine that brought the terror of snow billy and joe the liar upon us all. Your past manipulations of a name change with a new round of fear mongering and tax breaks for the rich won't work.

moot romney says democrats are the party of monarchists?! after 8 years of W the most obvious and damaging example of nepotism in our country's history. i thought irony was forbidden to mormons

tHE gop IS sO oUT oF tOUCH wITh tHE rEAL wORLD!

The Republicans lost the battle of ideas even more comprehensively than they lost the battle for educated votes, marching into the election armed with nothing more than slogans. Energy? Just drill, baby, drill. Global warming? Crack a joke about Ozone Al. Immigration? Send the bums home. Torture and Guantánamo? Wear a T-shirt saying you would rather be water-boarding. Ha ha. During the primary debates, three out of ten Republican candidates admitted that they did not believe in evolution.

The Republican Party’s divorce from the intelligentsia has been a while in the making. The born-again Mr Bush preferred listening to his “heart” rather than his “head”. He also filled the government with incompetent toadies like Michael “heck-of-a-job” Brown, who bungled the response to Hurricane Katrina. Mr McCain, once the chattering classes’ favourite Republican, refused to grapple with the intricacies of the financial meltdown, preferring instead to look for cartoonish villains. And in a desperate attempt to serve boob bait to Bubba, he appointed Sarah Palin to his ticket, a woman who took five years to get a degree in journalism, and who was apparently unaware of some of the most rudimentary facts about international politics.

Republicanism’s anti-intellectual turn is devastating for its future. The party’s electoral success from 1980 onwards was driven by its ability to link brains with brawn. The conservative intelligentsia not only helped to craft a message that resonated with working-class Democrats, a message that emphasised entrepreneurialism, law and order, and American pride. It also provided the party with a sweeping policy agenda. The party’s loss of brains leaves it rudderless, without a compelling agenda.

This is happening at a time when the American population is becoming more educated. More than a quarter of Americans now have university degrees. Twenty per cent of households earn more than $100,000 a year, up from 16% in 1996. Mark Penn, a Democratic pollster, notes that 69% call themselves “professionals”. McKinsey, a management consultancy, argues that the number of jobs requiring “tacit” intellectual skills has increased three times as fast as employment in general. The Republican Party’s current “redneck strategy” will leave it appealing to a shrinking and backward-looking portion of the electorate.

Why is this happening? One reason is that conservative brawn has lost patience with brains of all kinds, conservative or liberal. Many conservatives—particularly lower-income ones—are consumed with elemental fury about everything from immigration to liberal do-gooders. They take their opinions from talk-radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and the deeply unsubtle Sean Hannity. And they regard Mrs Palin’s apparent ignorance not as a problem but as a badge of honour.

Another reason is the degeneracy of the conservative intelligentsia itself, a modern-day version of the 1970s liberals it arose to do battle with: trapped in an ideological cocoon, defined by its outer fringes, ruled by dynasties and incapable of adjusting to a changed world. The movement has little to say about today’s pressing problems, such as global warming and the debacle in Iraq, and expends too much of its energy on xenophobia, homophobia and opposing stem-cell research.

Conservative intellectuals are also engaged in their own version of what Julian Benda dubbed la trahison des clercs, the treason of the learned. They have fallen into constructing cartoon images of “real Americans”, with their “volkish” wisdom and charming habit of dropping their “g”s. Mrs Palin was invented as a national political force by Beltway journalists from the Weekly Standard and the National Review who met her when they were on luxury cruises around Alaska, and then noisily championed her cause.

Mitt thinks the party of give-aways to the rich, the party of unlimited inheritance of unlimited unearned wealth, the party of George Bush XXXXI and George Bush XXXXIII can point at the other party and with a straight face call "Monarchists!"

Hilarious *and* delusional.

Oh there is a good idea.... MORE of the SAME Washington Republicans trying to reshape their image when they are the same people who tarnished it!

The GOP had better wake up quick, before it's too late. Using the same old, dried out, exhausted old men are NOT what that party needs.

What the GOP really needs is a triage! They need a COMPLETELY whole new agenda and if they don't realize this, they WILL BE A MARGINALIZED party, NO doubt about it!

Mr. Romney should be selling sun-tan creme. Well researched-
of course – by Bain.

Ha! Good luck with that. I think the damage has already been done, and it'll take an act of God to make the GOP better. Good thing they're all such diehard Christians. (excuse me while I laugh)

Of The three prominent GOP leaders statements in thisTicker story only Jeb Bush's had any truth in which he says that "It's time for us to listen a little bit, learn a little bit." No you guys really need to shut up and learn a lot more about this counrty that you wish to lead.
Mitt Romney compared the GOP to Americans fighting the British during the Revolutionary War. "We are the party of the revolutionaries, they [Democrats] are the party of the monarchists," The fly in that ointment is that GWB was not elected by this crowd, but by coronation to POTUS by hook and by crook by this crowd, and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor. "The reality is the prescriptions coming out of Washington right now are not reflective of the mainstream of this country."
No Eric the reality is your party is out due to election results which are in fact the reflection of the mainstream of this country.
This GOP leadership is like a bunch substance abusers who won't admit they have an issue with the substance, and unless or until they do admit the reality of the world in which they placed us in they will wander in the wilderness and die.

Romney is an idiot! Nothing is going to change in the Republican party unless they ease up on the core values of walking in lock step with whomever is in control of the party at the moment! Unless they loosen up and not be so rigid, nothing will ever change. The party has been the same forever and I don't see anything different happening. They has the country frightened for eight years with their terrorism claims and heavy handed religious indoctrination, and finally the country woke up to the fact that they were wrong for the country! They were thrown out and shown that we will not be under their control anymore. That is their problem.........the need to control what people say and think in every aspact of their lives.

Shouldn't they wait until next week to change their image again. They have already changed their image this week.

Both parties have morphed into parties of themselves. No longer are they implementing policy decisions for the good of the country, but they implement programs and policies designed to keep them in office and themselves in power. No wonder the country despises them both. I am unabashedly claiming that neither party represents the majority of taxpayers in this country. But both certainly pander to the voting majority that are on the dole. A pox on both their houses.

Well, after reading this, I'd say the GOP is still clueless about how exceptional President Obama really is and how outstanding his campaign apparatus STILL IS.

The GOP cannot move forward with the Social Conservative Albatross hanging around its neck. The Gun Lobby, the Religious Right, Rush Limbaugh's leadership, goofy FOX News, hate radio, a base composed of hillbillies, goat ropers, crackers, rednecks and Texans, anti-immigration, anti-regulation, anti-healthcare reform, anti-reproductive rights, anti-equality, and on and on and on. What a load of dead weight! The GOP just keeps shooting itself in the foot.

The GOP needs to face reality and start planning for 2028.

Hmmm. How to reshape the GOP's image? This is a tough one. For one, Hispanic voters are aware that 99% of GOP politicans and voters are anti-Hispanic/anti-illegal workers. Secondly, younger voters are turned off by the homophobic, racist, pro-guns, and I-don't-want-any-girl-to-have- an-abortion-but -I -don't -want -spend-tax-dollars-on-welfare- programs rhetoric nor are they impressed by the fear mongering. Thirdly, ethnic minorities are turned off by the 'terrorist', and 'show me your birth certificate Obama' nonsense. And fourthly, women are disgusted by the GOP too. Good luck reshaping the GOP.

National Council for a New America.....What's wrong with the current America? .....Haley Barbour, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Bobby Jindal are the members of this council....What about the leader of the RNC, Michael Steele....Where is he? Isn't he the 'new' face of your 'New America?' Republicans outside protesting? "There are no limits to the posturing......

Nothing but a complete overhaul of leadership and a 21st century vision will do anything to help these out of touch, angry, bitter old exclusionists!

Good luck! You will need loads of it!

Mitt Romney is not going to get it done for the Republicans! In fact, he's the living breathing definition of what a rich, elitest, religious wacko is which is exactly the problem with the GOP! WOW! Are these guy's that stupid or what?

I think after 8 years of Bush the American people showed they are smarter than rebranding the same ideas with a different face when they elected Obama instead of Palin\McCain.

The Republicans need to feature a more civil form of leadership in Washington that is about more than opposition before people really start to see them differently.

Wow! The new GOP is the same old GOP. Funny how those who cater to the rich (GOP) see themselves as revolutionaries, and view those who support programs to help the poor (Democrats) as being part of a monarch. The GOP will never get its act together so long as its nose remains firmly stuck in the rich guys rear.

The recycling of the same ol' losers just goes to emphasize how very desperate the Repugs are. They got trounced it the last two elections ('06 and '08), so the solution they've come up with is to offer up the same-old-same-old. As if if two Bushes weren't enough, they turn to Jeb???? W's popularity (if one can call it that) is even lower than it was when he and the Rethugs finally got run out of Washington at the behest of an enormous majority. These are the same jerks who thought they could put any female on their ballot and win an election. They are also the same fools who thought they could appeal to a wider base my electing any black man to the chairmanship of the RNC in spite of the fact that he's just an opportunist like Miss Wasilla '82. Then there's still the omnipresence of Rush and Ann Coulter...

Frankly, I hope they keep this up! Certainly they're digging a very, very deep hole that, with a little bit of luck, they will be unable to dig themselves out of.

I'm an unaffiliated voter, so I'm not particularly enamored with the Dum's either, but I can hardly wait until Al Franken is seated right next to Arlen Specter on the floor of the United States Senate, thus rendering the Repugs utterly irrelevant!

"..the group's Web site and YouTube video did not mention... any of the hot-button issues vital to the social conservatives that form a significant part of the party's base."

There, in a nutshell, is THE problem. A "significant part" of the GOP's base believe, essentially, that the earth is flat.

As such, the GOP Schwinn™ bicycle, in order to pass muster with the flat-earthers, also must have flat tires, or they'll picket.

Good luck with that, GOP.

What was that saying that was so popular during the campaign about putting lipstick on farm animals? Or bulldogs?

Hmmm. The best thing the GOP can do to improve its image is STOP trying to WIN Seats in 2010 and actually be productive with some new ideas or at least not obstructing other people's ideas to help Americans move forward. Sometimes you don't have to SAY anything. Your action will tell us all we need to know.

Republicans don't need more PR spin. They need ideas.

For instance, if you are for smaller government, then tell us exactly what you plan on cutting. Talking about earmark reform or pork (which accounts for a sliver of a fraction of the overall budget) isn't an answer. Just how exactly do you plan on cutting back the major expenditures in the Federal budget, such as Medicare & Medicaid (23% of budget), Social Security (21% of budget), or Defense (21% of budget)? Apparently cutting the amount the defense budget increases from 15% to 4% is apparently too draconian for the Republicans. How do you plan on convincing the elderly or poor that they should vote for you after slashing Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid?

Until you can convince the American people that they need to receive drastically less services from the federal government (ie, the "you are on your own" theory of government), then you have to face the reality that these programs aren't vanishing.

I mean, why do you think McCain kept talking about earmarks during the '08 campaign, rather than talking about a coherant vision for what a smaller government would really look like for the millions of citizens in this country.

Rs down have the strength to even slow down Obama, who can basically just steamroll them whenever he likes now. They have no exciting leader, just a bunch of retreads, and no new ideas, just tired old-think ideology. Worse of all, NO ONE is listening to them, since Obama seems to be making progress, and Rs are rightfully taking heaps of blame for the messes their neocons made of the US and our Constitution. The Rs only real hope is that Obama royally screws something up, which so far he hasn't shown any sign of doing. The best Rs have come up with is that stupid NYC flyby, an episode everyone has (rightfully) concluded is basically meaningless.

The party of NO philosophy is doomed, you can't move forward when all what you do is spill out hate through hannity and limbaugh. Fox is a liability to the GOP instead of making the party popular the news media shoves out young voters!! who have no priveleges to preserve.

The GOP needs all of the help it can get-no leadership, no vision, Constant bickering amongst itself and 8 years of useless, reckless, greed have given the Republicans a bad image. Not to mention idiots like Rush Limbaugh who are an embarrasment to anyones party. Its definitely time to put some of the old GOP leaders out to pasture and infuse it with some new forward thinking blood. Otherwise as the saying goes you can put lipstick on a pig but its still a pig. It will be interesting to see the new face of the Republican party if they can stop bickering long enough to select someone with vision to lead them. good luck.

I wonder what they mean by "New America" and what they think of the one they live in now?! If these people want a revolution they must detail their grievances and propose effective changes. Social conservatives are the type of people I do not wish to run any country. They have proven themselves to be the kind that not only tolerate hate, fear, and suspicion, but have learned how to manipulate the public by using such devices; I offer their correlation between the new flu and immigrants as an example. Speaking of which, how do they intend to treat the people whom they do not appreciate? And who exactly are these people? Do they intend to go after people they deem "liberal" and how will they handle the witch-hunt that will surely follow? No, I want a society open to all- not this "New America" they invision.

The Republican Party is run by White Anglo-Saxon Protestants who view The United States of America as their’s to own. Now, the government of moderates is described, by them, as outside forces. Gov Mitt Romney parallels the Republican “insurrection” to the American Revolution. Moderates are decribed as evil outsiders who will destroy their way of life.

There is no inclusion into the Republican Party; its their way or no way at all.

Mitt Romney – REAL Economic Recovery

This is a typical CEO/College of Business type response. Your party has bankrupted the nation, outsourced our jobs, taken away our benefits, can't remember the concept of the 8 hour day or the 40 hour week, lowered our real wages, imported poisonous toys for our children and poisonous building materials for our homes, run up the national debt during prosperous years when we should have been paying it down (as the promised they would), deregulated corporations so they could destroy our economy, invaded a country for no reason that anyone can think of, passed the Patriot Act, imprisoned people in dungeons and tortured them in defiance of treaties that great men like Harry Truman helped write, and made "America" a word spoken of in contempt by our former allies. Many of them have gone to prison for taking bribes. Others barely escaped prison by hiring expensive lawyers to get them off on technicalities.

Now they say they have an image problem. They are going to show us commercials filled with waving flags, Ronald Reagan, and tap-dancing Conservatives singing about the "shining city on the hill."

Poor Lincoln. Poor Teddy Roosevelt. Poor Eisenhower. What have they done to your party?

Let's see. Mitt couldn't win the nomination. Jeb couldn't get elected dog catcher thanks to his brother and Eric is a lame duck. This is the leadership? Where were Rush and Sarah? The Republican story is so sad....unless you're a DEMOCRAT! Then it is the funniest show on TV.

Republicans/Super Al Queda lead America into near dissolution and now they are talking about American revolution. 8 years of continuous distruction isn't enough for them. Leave America alone for next 16 years to recover.

Totally meaningless because they still don't get it.

Wow. Mitt Romney has incredible delusions of grandeur. For a millionaire who is part of a political family to claim that the democrats are the monarchists, it's just flabbergasting. Both sides of the aisle politically have had their 'dynasties' so nobody gets any pass on that front, but the party of the rich, white men needs more than an 'image' makeover. They need to come up with some actual ideas and let their actions speak for them. So tired of this whole GOP melodrama. You reap what you sow, simple as that. Now start sowing some better seeds, guys, instead of looking for some better packaging on the same old seeds.

Their image is not the problem. A goat dressed is silk is still a goat. Or as my friend James Carvilee likes to say: Politics is like a circus, and the worst job is cleaning up after the elephants.

The Democrats have the best ideas- so now that Obama is taking charge of the image they look good. The fact that these horrible ideas from the GOP goat any traction at all is a testament to the communicative power of Ronald Reagan, Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. The GOP's problem is that 2 of these three have passed away and th other should be up on charges.

"Three prominent GOP leaders kicked off a campaign Saturday to reshape their party's image..."

Republicans have NOTHING to offer except a new "image", i.e., it's the same old crap repackaged over and over again.

Fortunately for the Republicans, at least once every couple of elections, half of the American electorate isn't smart or educated enough to figure this out.

"Romney compared the GOP to Americans fighting the British during the Revolutionary War. "We are the party of the revolutionaries". Please. You got to be kidding me.

Eric Cantor – the man who has led the partisan Republican fight against ALL of Obama's proposals, thereby totally ignoring America's mandate for change.

Jeb Bush – the fraudulent liar who was responsible for stealing the election from Al Gore (not to mention, a member of the family guilty of perpetrating the greatest war crimes since Hitler).

Mitt Romney – the perennial flip-flopper who can't make up his mind about anything from abortion rights to gun control.

THESE people are going to change the Republican party? They are so far removed from the pulse of America, there is absolutely NO CHANCE that they will bring about any kind of change whatsoever. I can hardley stop laughing.

The problem is that you can't change your shirts on Saturday and rub elbows with your underlings and then on Monday put your suits back on and be a party of exclusion. I am amazed by their ability to believe that Americans are so stupid that they think that all they have to do is dress down to connect. Ah shuks folks...were just one of you.

Gov. Romney, what "revolutionaries" as I see it you are the party of pleasing the Evangelical fringe, and thereby became equally intolerant of diverse views. Fix that, and you will have your party back.

yeah, good luck with that. like you guys have any clue what main stream america needs or want. you all are soooo clueless.

If the Republican Party had a coherent positive vision for America instead of having spent the last eight years sabotaging this country to enhance their own agendas (conquer Iraq, enrich Halliburton and the oil companies, expand government intrusion into personal life) they would not now be pursueing this tragically shallow, transparent effort to "rebrand" themselves. What are they, laundry detergent or a philosophy?

I can't believe the Republicans are kicking off their rebranding effort with anybody named "Bush" as one of the leaders. Let's face, it W helped destroy the republicans. If I were in the top of the republican party I wouldn't even let any named "Bush" in it.

You know, they don't have the big problems as they like to think, for starters, wasn't it 3+ years ago they were still voting for Bush?? I mean, it may sound like a long time but you know what's a long time? Almost 8 years...

They don't have it tough, they make it tough for themselves and come on, they go in taking some questions and Conservatives are out waiting, I think the problem is(and I'm going to use an old-school analogy) that so many tribes now roam, it ain't one single group or the other. Let alone they have no leader or someone to be on message and be consistent. You need someone like that, not people shouting out of order...

I don't know but I think they are just freaking out, you know? Just surprised how far this went, they gotta relax, and people watch, is on T.V or in the news, just take it slow. Like I said, it was about 3+ years ago that things were fine...you know, there's that say that goes that experience is the name you give to your mistakes, right? Then I wonder what you call experience when things are happy and proud?? You tell me GOP, you tell me...

Council for a NEW America?! I think it's funny that only 4 months into a Democratic president and congress, that the Republicans are calling for a revolution and a NEW America!! Do they realize they F'd up the current one?! It's like Madoff suing the Federal Government for uncovering his crimes!!!! Yea, makes no sense. Then again, Republican stands for Hypocrate. (and no, I'm an Independent)

From the article it seems like the "leaders" did most of the talking. So, who was listening? I guess it was the "overwhelmingly Republican crowd." Sounds more like preaching to the choir than dialog.

Look who is leading this campaign. These are the same people that supported the failed policies of the Bush administration and the same ones that is voting against progressive action on how to get us out of this economy mess the past administration had gotten us into. We Americans need new Republicans that will stand for Americans and not for corporate greed, gas prices that breaks hard working people and poor oversight on insurance companies and large corporations. Fellow Americans, we can vote these people out of office and place true Republicans in our government stand for us and not believe in lie after lie after lie.

We appear to be on a relentless track to socialism. The government has become a free ride to an increasing number of people–including autos and the banks! It isn't clear that the GOP and a conservative posture can ever regain status.

I'm amazed at how short sighted and reactionary our politics have become. The republican party has problems that are a function of the political cycle we happen to be in right now. There will be a Republican in the white house ,they will control one of the two bodies of congress within a decade.So let the democrats have there day in the sun and remember that nothing in life or politics is permanent.

this man needs to go back to temple square in salt lake and rethink his church issues . so tired of the religious and republican eight years of fear and war mongering Mitt should step out of the public servant job and stay in the private sector as his church schooled him in learning business.

your party needs more than rethinking it needs to die off . it only took eight years to screw the country .