Divided Republicans soul-search after defeat

Republicans reeling from their second presidential loss in a row engaged in some soul-searching but were at odds on how far the party must change to remake its image.

Divisions that were stitched up during the presidential campaign in a show of unity against the Democrats are on full display again after Mitt Romney’s loss on Tuesday to President Barack Obama.

Romney’s loss underscored a growing problem within the party in dealing with the changing face of the US electorate as Hispanic voters, turned off by harsh conservative rhetoric on immigration, helped Obama win battleground states like Virginia, Colorado, Nevada and Ohio.

Romney also struggled during much of his campaign to appeal to women and young voters, as the party got tangled up in high-profile disputes over abortion and gay marriage that turned off people who might otherwise be attracted to the Republicans’ free-market economic message.

Some party leaders are getting the message and want a more inclusive party.

“We have to become a party of inclusion, not outreach,” former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, who lost the Republican presidential nomination fight this year, told CBS’s This Morning programme. “We have to recognise that if you’re not going to be competitive with Latinos, with African- Americans, with Native Americans, with Asian- Americans, you’re not going to be a successful party.”

But after seeing the rise of Tea Party fiscal conservatives over the past two years, many on the right felt that the problem was not that Romney was too moderate but he was not conservative enough. That guarantees a battle over who the party will back in 2016 when it next chooses a candidate to pursue the White House.

Not only did Romney lose his bid for the White House, but Republican hopes of making gains in the Senate and perhaps even taking control of the chamber were dashed.

Two reasons for this setback were named Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, who had both stood a good chance of winning Senate seats in Missouri and Indiana until they made comments about rape that angered women and turned the tide against them.