Post-Romney, who's the GOP's leader?

BOSTON -- Mitt Romney's shadow looms over a Republican Party in disarray.

The face of the GOP for much of the last year, the failed presidential candidate has been a virtual ghost since his defeat Nov. 6. He has quietly weathered the fallout of the campaign from the seclusion of his Southern California home, emerging only momentarily for a private lunch at the White House with President Barack Obama on Thursday.

His loss and immediate withdrawal from politics, while welcomed by most, has created a leadership vacuum within his party. It's left the GOP rudderless, lacking an overarching agenda and mired in infighting, with competing visions for the way ahead, during what may be the most important policy debate in a generation.

In his final meeting with campaign staffers at his Boston headquarters, Romney promised to remain "a strong voice for the party," according to those in attendance. But so far he has offered little to the Capitol Hill negotiations over potential tax increases and entitlement program changes that could affect virtually every American.

He declined to comment on the Treasury Department's recent refusal to declare China a currency manipulator, which was one of his signature issues over the past 18 months. He made no public remarks after his meeting with Obama, quickly fading away, again.

"If I had to tell you somebody who is the leader of the party right now, I couldn't," said Amy Kremer, chairman of the Tea Party Express, which is among the conservative factions vying for increased influence. "There's a void right now."

There's no shortage of Republicans maneuvering to fill it, from House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio to a number of high-profile politicians looking to boost their national profiles, if not position themselves for a 2016 presidential run. That group could include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, son and brother of presidents, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Republican officials acknowledge party tensions between the moderate and conservative wings, as well as the tea party and evangelical constituencies. But they dismiss the leadership vacuum as a standard political reality for the losing party in the presidential race. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, never had a strong relationship with the conservative base, given his more moderate past.

Party officials are optimistic that a team of younger and more diverse leaders, drawn from the ranks of governors and Congress, will emerge in the coming months to help strengthen and unify what is now a party grappling with its identity. That list includes Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina.

The GOP was in disarray following its 2006 showing, searching for a new path and leader at a time when President George W. Bush was deeply unpopular.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 presidential nominee, briefly assumed control of a party that he long had criticized, but it never really warmed to him. He lost to Obama, and shortly after that, the party turned to an African-American official, Michael Steele, to serve as its chief spokesman. But the decision was widely seen as a mistake, as Steele, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, presided over major financial problems as head of the Republican National Committee.

All that created a leadership vacuum that helped give rise to the tea party movement in 2009 and sparked rounds of internal battles between party pragmatists and more extreme conservatives.

Republican strategist Phil Musser is among those suggesting that the current void presents a breakout opportunity for the party chairman, Reince Priebus. The 40-year-old Midwesterner largely played a supporting administrative role in his first two years on the job.

"To some degree it's a challenge in as much you don't have a standard bearer to rally behind that unifies central themes of the conservative movement," Musser said. "The bottom line is that a little bit of messiness and frank family discussion is not a terrible thing after an election like this."

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[RollotheNorman]

I nominate Oscar the Grouch to lead the Greedy Old Party through 2016. Is there a second?

[BWB2020]

Who is the leader of the GOP?

Christians call it Satan, Muslims call it Iblis, Hindus call it materialism.

Being an atheist myself, I say any of the current cohort of ASPD-afflicted GOP miscreants will serve as the figurehead of anti-humanity.

Whoever emerges to replace Magic Drawers will be the standard-bearer for a failed, rejected and dying political philosophy, so it doesn't really matter.

[sandy 1027]

Republicans have created an impossible situation for themselves.They calculated ( wrongly) that allowing the most extremist elements to dictate and dominate their agenda was a winning strategy; and it all backfired.They allowed the Tea Party, Grover Norquist,and Birthers to hijack the party.They thought that there was gold in playing to uncompromising radicals, conspiracy theorists, and bigots.Mainstream Republicans didn't seem to see the big picture, and what this would mean for the party, long-term.They didn't push back against it,and they have put themselves in this position.

[rational_egoist]

No, the Republican party embraced the religious right and the neoconservatives back in the 1950s. At that time or soon thereafter the Democratic party began embracing the new nihilistic left. America and individual rights are being destroyed by both of these decisions.

If America is to be saved the contradictions of both parties need to be resolved. Republican theocracy and Democratic socialism are the problems.

I own my life, not the Republican gods nor the Democratic 'majority'. That is what the Republican's don't get and what the Democrats likely never will.

[cubscout09]

Hmmm, what about Paul Ryan?

[cubscout09]

{cue, crickets}

[LarryMoniz]

The GOP's De Facto leader is Grover Norquist to whom hundreds of Republicans in Congress took an oath of allegiance while disregarding their congressional oath to perform their jobs and uphold the Constitution. Much like Adolf Hitler's brown shirt thugs did in the 1930s.

[RollotheNorman]

Reinhold Reince Priebus Forever!

[elmgreen11]

The GOP leadership is dysfunctional and in denial of today's modern world. Conservatives are low-effort thinkers and that may be genetic. Look at the Santorums and Palins with their learning-impaired children, George W. Bush and John Boehner who have obvious brain-damage. Gerald Ford also had head trauma from football; Ronald Reagan was clueless from Alzheimer's dementia. Many Tea Party participants appear to have some cognitive impairment as well.

[bbglow]

The GOP is being led by Norquist intimidation. (period)

[bbglow]

Google: Cheney "deficits don't matter".

... they only care when it's not going into their pockets. (period)

[cydygitt2]

After watching 'Meet the Press' this morning, I have to say that this is the first time in our history, that a LOBBYIST, grover nitwitt, is the leader of a major political party, and from the far-right extremist teabaggers.

He has most republicans by the huevos, even the women though that's not many in the GOP, and they all fear more being "primaried" by nitwitt and the extremists on the fa-right, than the general election!

[cydygitt2]

Hey infant, you're such a repetitious child, posting the same garbage over and over for a couple of days, no matter what the subject of the thread happens to be. LOL!

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Infant is using the same old republican divide and conquer us the against them, African, Latino and Asian Americans are coming after us White folks scare tatics. What Infant won't tell you is the one percenters use America's historic racism against those groups to stoke anxiety in some Whites using it to influence struggling Whites resent and fight struggling Blacks, Latinos and Asians over crumbs while the one percenters continue to feast on the main course while laughing all the way to the bank afterward.

[1pheasant1]

infantryman11B1968 says:
Obama and his followers are getting everything they wanted to take America down.
Why are they still complaining?
_________________________________

Obama and his followers are getting everything they wanted to take Republicans down.
They are not complaining!