Stop insulting voters, senior Republicans urge party

The US Republican Party needs to stop insulting voters and broaden its appeal, say some of its leading figures following the re-election of Democratic President Barack Obama thanks to overwhelming support from Hispanics, blacks and single women.

Comments made by two top Republican governors and an influential US senator on Sunday reflected the soul-searching taking place in the party after Obama's victory over Republican Mitt Romney on November 6.

"If we want people to like us, we have to like them first. And you don't start to like people by insulting them and saying their votes were bought," Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, told the programme.

Jindal and some other Republicans rejected Romney's remarks last week blaming his election loss on what he called an Obama strategy of giving "gifts" to blacks, Hispanics and young voters - groups instrumental to his re-election victory.

These "gifts" cited by Romney included passage of Obama's signature healthcare law, support for contraceptive coverage in medical insurance, and a policy change relaxing US deportation rules so that many young illegal immigrants who came to the US as children can stay and work.

Romney made the remarks in a telephone call to supporters that news organisations heard.

"We are in a big hole," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told NBC's . "We are not getting out of it by comments like that [by Romney]. When you're in a hole, stop digging. He keeps digging."