Republican consultants are shouldering too much of the blame for failed GOP campaigns, according to Byron York, a columnist for the Washington Examiner.
York said consultants faced blistering criticism at the Conservative Political Action Coalition from pollster Pat Caddell and name-brand conservatives like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“My feeling is the real issue is the candidates who hire these guys . . . and many others,’’ York told Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show.’’
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“It’s the candidates who either have that winning sense inside them or don’t.’’
As examples, he cited the failed presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and John McCain.
“It’s true with all sorts of campaigns. Republicans . . . kind of casting about for explanations for the last defeat have focused a little too much on these consultants,’’ York said.
He added that consultants shouldn’t necessarily be a big part of the 2016 presidential campaign.
“If you have a candidate who has grappled with the issues for a long time and has firm beliefs of where he stands on these issues, then the consultants actually won’t play that big a role,’’ York said.
“Consultants work for the candidate and if a good candidate emerges, amazingly enough he’ll seem to have good consultants.’’
He praised Mitt Romney’s senior campaign adviser Stuart Stevens, who he said had been behind many successful campaigns even though he failed with last year’s presidential race.
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