South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is among a group of prominent Republicans who have been publicly critical of GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Despite a sluggish economy and polls showing that 60 percent of the electorate rate it as poor, Pres. Barack Obama has begun putting space between himself and Romney in virtually every poll—and the polls were taken before a tape emerged of Romney claiming that 47 percent of voters would never vote for him because they are dependent on government assistance.
Graham told the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC, "This is our election to lose,” he said. “There’s a reason no president has ever been elected with economic numbers like this. If Obama wins, he’ll be rewriting political history.”
Still, polls show Obama with a job approval rating of over 50 percent and his performance polling at its highest point since the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011. Voters nationally also have expressed a clear preference of Obama over Romney in terms of personal likability and who relates to their problems better. For the first time, polls are also expressing equal amount of confidence in Obama and Romney for getting the country back on track economically.
The combination of poll numbers and the "47 percent tape" prompted Graham and a chorus of other Republicans—including Dean Heller in Nevada and Scott Brown in Massachuestts—to openly question Romney and his strategy. Romney has had a limited public schedule and has been crticized for holding too many fundraisers. Graham told CNN that's a mistake and that Romney needs to get out and meet voters, face-to-face.
"I think what Romney needs to do is get into Virginia and run for sheriff," Graham said. "This is not rocket science."
