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GOP Governors warn that Obama attacks are wrong tactics

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | November 19, 2009 at 04:56 pm

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GOP: "We need to treat Obama respectfully."

A warning went out today at a conference of Republican Governors that GOP candidates should think twice about using the Obama-attacking tactics.

Citing Obama's massive personal appeal, it was said that candidates must focus on reviving the GOP as a party, not attacking Obama.

Republican governors Thursday urged GOP candidates competing in 2010 elections to not harshly attack President Barack Obama, citing polls that show his personal popularity remaining strong despite unease over his policies.
The warning capped a two-day meeting in which Republican governors presented their party's successful 2009 political playbook from races in Virginia and New Jersey as a case study in how the party can revive itself.

One crucial factor, governors said, is wooing independent voters that backed Mr. Obama last year but voted by about two-to-one margins in gubernatorial races for Robert McDonnell in Virginia and Chris Christie in New Jersey.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, told his colleagues that Obama enjoyed a "residuary of goodwill," particularly because he is America's first black president.

"We need to be careful," Mr. Barbour said. "We need to treat the president respectfully. …This is a guy that people like, but his policies are rightly dragging down their political capacity."