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New Yorker (March 4) carries the article titled “Ann and Mitt Romney’s lost fairy tale” portraying an interview of Mr. and Mrs. Mitt Romney by Chris Wallace on Fox News on Sunday, which ends up with the following statement:

“Romney said, “We were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs. But the ride ends. And then you get off. And it’s not like, Oh, can’t we be on a roller coaster the rest of our life?” Maybe Congress thinks that we can. As for Romney, the G.O.P. is over him—mostly. “

Though it may look quite obvious to native speakers, I’m at fault to interpret the phrase, “the G.O.P. is over him.” Does it mean that the G.O.P. forsook Mr. Romney, or the G.O.P. is the past tense to Mr. Romney ?

Can it be possible for any major, decent political party to dump its former leader or champion like old shoes - 弊履の如く捨てる- in Japanese expression, simply because of his not making it, or vise versa?

Is “over” used here in the same way as ‘over’ in ‘game over' or 'done’?

I consulted OALED at hand. It provides 10 different definitions of the word, ‘over’, among which I find (6) not used or needed, and (8) ended. I wonder if either of them could be applicable to the ending phrase, ‘As for Romney, the G.O.P. is over him—mostly,’ but I’m not sure.

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    The idea is that members of the Republican Party were intensely involved with and deeply attentive to Romney (and his fortunes) during the election campaign, but now they have largely lost interest. "I'm over X" is a common U.S. idiom indicating a state of lost fascination or engagement, the (former) object of which may range from something deeply meaningful to something faddish to something prosaic.
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Mar 5, 2013 at 5:22
  • You can (roughly) memorize this as being "over sth." like being over a mountain (you had to climb), or being over a river you had to cross.
    – shuhalo
    Commented Mar 5, 2013 at 9:19

3 Answers 3

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To "be over (someone)" is an idiom that means a relationship is finished. For example:

I'm so over him!

I believe it comes from this definition of 'over':

11) having recovered from the effects of she's not over that last love affair yet

So in the particular example, it means that the GOP is no longer enamored with Romney. The fairy-tale-like relationship is over.

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I think it means that the GOP is done with Romney-- no longer interested in what he has to offer. Source: Native English speaker.

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I've upvoted @ahannon14's answer, which is essentially correct. From OED:

over 13: With reference to duration, repetition, completion, resumption, etc.
a. Past, gone by, finished, at an end. See also all over.
b. over and done with (later also over with)
finish with, have done with (esp. something troublesome or disagreeable).

The usage simply extends the "core" literal meaning

over = above
to metaphorical
over = beyond [in time, i.e. - past]

The GOP have largely gone beyond, or gotten over Romney. As a cynic, I might say it means they've discarded him because he's of no further use. But I'm sure the intended meaning is that in the recent past they were upset about Romney (because he lost); now they're over and done with [their regrets over having backed a losing candidate].

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