Panel: Romney backlash

>>> the fallout over mitt romney 's comments on president obama 's so-called gifts to minority voters continued with republ republican after republican hitting their nominee on the sunday show circuit as the parties try to recalibrate on this year's disastrous elected. let's bring in our monday final, beth reinhardt, tracy seppel, and contributor and former communications direct or to senator rick santorum , robert trainham. let's talk twinkies. just kidding. i just have that on my mind. i want to talk about the party, beth , and you spent a long time before coming to washington in florida. let's talk about marco rubio 's role. we'll talk about bobby jindal but marco rubio just happened to go to iowa. what a great guy. this is someone who has national aspirations clearly. from your close read on him, is he someone who can make that leap? he went from the state legislature to the u.s. senate seamlessly. going from senate to presidential candidate is another. does he have it in him?

>> if you watch marco rubio speak, not necessarily the speech in iowa --

>> this is what you would expect a republican to say.

>> but the convention speech where he's giving it the full treatment, i mean, there are very few politicians that can do what he can do which is make an audience feel something. he can really connect. he's really everything that mitt romney was not able to do.

>> i totally agree and i think you wind up in some ways fight the last battle in presidential politics . you pick the guy who is not like the last guy or gal.

>> right. and also look at the resounding result of the election was that young people and hispanicss rejected mitt romney and look at marco rubio , a young guy who is hispanic. he looks like everything the republican party is looking for.

>> whether or not he can make the case we have four years to debate. i do want to play something we mentioned bobby jindal . i want to play something he had to say it's about the last campaign and about what i think his campaign in waiting will sound like. let's play it.

>> we as a republican party have to campaign for every single vote. if we want people to like us, we have to like them first. you don't start to like people by insulting them by saying their votes were bought. our principles are good for every single voter.

>> what's fascinating, i feel it's the lessons i tell my 3-year-old son. if you want people to like you, you have to be nice to them.

>> it's the truth. he's speaking after the republican party has gotten clobbered. to his point and to beth 's point and to your question about -- well.

>> you're juggling five balls at once.

>> their stories are american, so they can tell that story. many people out there, especially brown people , can relate to 0 it. bobby jindal but marco rubio , it's not unlike barack obama 's story where it's a unique childhood that is becoming more and more american and thus in the process people at home can relate to that and say i don't agree with the democratic party and republican party but this guy i like him and thus in the process maybe i can see him in the white house .

>> and a similar thing happened after 1988 with democrats. bill clinton in third way politics.

>> he moved the party to the center.

>> i agree. tracy, i want to throw you a hanging curveball here, which i know you will smash over the all this talk of marco rubio and bobby jindal , a clip from cruz very much touted, texas senator now, who basically said these mandarins want us to give up on our principles. doesn't it sound like there's still a significant part of the republican party who says i don't think we should be moving. i don't think this is over.

>> well, the combined choru of voices from jindal to christie to scott walker to others is this collective hook that mitt romney is getting that's pulling him off the stage in this vaudeville style and the question now becomes making politics more than just the surnames. i worry for the republicans that just saying, well, it's marco rubio or it's ted cruz that there becomes this reliance on something simplistic and really what is a good reminder from 2012 which we're all still recovering from but did it shall.

>> it was only 13 days ago.

>> 3 minutes, 13 days . but there was an interesting analysis that showed --

>> and this is a group that monitors everything ever written.

>> the gold standard . and nearly 1 million ads were run during this. 1 million . that's a lot of fast forwarding on your dvr.

>> perish the thought.

>> on jobs. on jobs. so to have these other discussions about likability and whether you're liking the candidate or the candidate is liking you and whose last name is what, this becomes a reflection reflection of what those bold themes were that elected and re-elected president obama .

>> but, beth , was not -- i don't disagree with you, but was not part of president obama 's appeal before we knew what he stood for was a different face and a break from the first face of the democratic party hillary clinton . what comes as a chicken and the egg question, what comes first, the messenger or the message?

>> well, absolutely. there are more similarities between barack obama and senator rubio than senator the rubio would like to admit. each has a record of accomplishment.

>> and a deep record.

>> and to contrast with someone who is a governor and run a sta state, and there a big difference of running a state and serving in the senate as i'm sure that both president obama and senator rubio would admit.

>> and we may hear more of the differences of being a governor and serving in the senate may be down the line between senator jindal