Republicans distance themselves from Mitt Romney

See you later. Or never. Is never good for you?

As the Republican Party struggles to understand why their platform of screwing over pretty much every group of Americans that do not personally own their own yachts was not the path to election-day success they thought it would be, they have undertaken that first, crucial step: the ceremonial dismantling of the last Republican nominee to make way for the next.

Marco Rubio, angling for a 2016 spot himself, let it be known that he wanted nothing to do with Mitt's old/new theory that Obama's supposed "gifts" to voters is what turned the election:

"I don’t want to rebut him point by point," Rubio said of Romney. "I would just say to you, I don’t believe that we have millions and millions of people in this country that don’t want to work. I’m not saying that’s what he said. I think we have millions of people in this country that are out of work and are dependent on the government because they can't find a job."

Sen. Kelly Ayotte:

Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who endorsed Romney for president and was once mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate, told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that she doesn't agree, but also doesn't know the "full context" of the comments. "I don't agree with the comments," Ayotte said.

Indeed, there's no doubt some "full context" here that we've been missing. Perhaps Romney prefaced his remarks by saying, "If I were a gigantic, irredeemable asshole, I would have to say that …" Past Republican important person Bobby Jindal, of course, was among the more forceful objectors:

“Two points on that: One, we have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100 percent of the votes, not 53 percent. We need to go after every single vote. “And, secondly, we need to continue to show how our policies help every voter out there achieve the American Dream, which is to be in the middle class, which is to be able to give their children an opportunity to be able to get a great education. … So, I absolutely reject that notion, that description. I think that’s absolutely wrong.”

And Reagan-era strategist Ed Rogers was exceedingly blunt about it:

“There is no Romney wing in the party that he needs to address,” said Ed Rogers, a longtime Republican strategist. “He never developed an emotional foothold within the GOP so he can exit the stage anytime and no one will mourn.”

Past Virginia representative Tom Davis was happy to pile on:

“It shows a huge misreading of the electoral landscape. A rather elitist misread. Where does he think his votes came from in rural America?”

Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Et tu, Florida Gov. Rick Scott?

“It’s wrong, it’s not true,” Scott told POLITICO, adding: “What we’ve got to do is say we want every vote, we want to take care of every citizen in our state.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad:

“I don’t think it’s helpful,” [...] “I guess my feeling is that we need to turn the page, and we need to focus on the future and not make excuses for the past.”

Hear that, Mitt? You're already "the past." The very, very unhelpful past.