Reading the tea leaves of Romney's demise

By Richard K. Barry

If things really start to go badly or, I should say, worse for Mitt Romney's presidential aspirations, it will be interesting to see what the early signs might be. Will some super-PAC money start to move away from Romney and towards tight Senate and House races? Will the blame game among the radical right begin sooner than we might have expected? And, maybe most tellingly, how soon will it take for Republicans in close races to begin to distance themselves from the top of the ticket?

Well, on that last point, apparently not all that long.

The Hill reports that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass), who is currently on the losing end of polls against Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren, wasted no time denouncing Romney's controversial remarks on the "47 percent."

Everything's good... right?

In an e-mail to The Hill, he said this:

That's not the way I view the world. As someone who grew up in tough circumstances, I know that being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in. Too many people today who want to work are being forced into public assistance for lack of jobs.

In a decidedly blue state, Brown knows what he is up against as Elizabeth Warren had this to say about Romney's comments in an interview with The Washington Post:

It's a party that says, "I've got mine and the rest of you are on your own," versus those who say, "We're all in this together." There's a clear choice in this election, between those who believe that to build an economy, the rich and powerful should get richer and more powerful, with tax cuts for the wealthiest and deregulation, while everyone else is left to pick up the pieces.

Yes, Romney might have made things harder for himself, but he is making things damn near impossible for Republicans who are tying to win in more progressive states.

He said what?

Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon, who is running for an open seat in Connecticut, also denounced Romney's comments in a statement posted to her website:

I disagree with Governor Romney’s insinuation that 47% of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care. I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be. People today are struggling because the government has failed to keep America competitive, failed to support job creators, and failed to get our economy back on track.

McMahon's Democratic opponent Chris Murphy dismissed McMahon's criticism of Romney as a "desperate attempt to distance herself from the right-wing agenda and Republican party she strongly supports."

So, there you have it, two Republican Senate candidates running away from Mitt Romney as fast as they can.

Who's next? Don't be shy.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)