3 Reasons Mitt Romney and Republicans Lost Big in Election 2012

P.S. I’m so happy I’m a libertarian. If I were a traditional conservative, I think I’d be on a suicide watch . . .

OBAMA DID NOT WIN IN 2012!

What we saw was the extreme power of the Party System has to control our freedom of choice.

Obama for a second term may be a good thing, IF and only IF we hold their feet to the fire and continually demand answers to basic questions.

Why are hearing aids (400% to 10000% markups) not included in government insurance?
Why must a combat disabled Vet give up his dis ability compensation if they get a government retirement check?
Why are their 18 million former home owners that can can not get a mortgage because they had a foreclosure reported by a company that is under investigation or has been found guilty of fraud in the matter? Let their loan applications stand on it’s own merits not what occurred during a very disgraceful time.
Why when you turn 65 you must take medicare or else give up all ($2000/month for the rest of your life) your social security benefits?
Why dose non of this apply to you if you are a Congressman?

Don’t think this is true, I think demographics won last night, doesn’t have much to do with the message.

John_Locke on November 7, 2012 at 2:05 PM

Yup.

Romney was counting on Hispanic turnout given his own Hispanic background, but that didn’t happen. Women didn’t turnout for him either, which is a total puzzlement to me on that.

In the end it all came down to small interests adding up to enough to tip the scale to Obama.

All along the media and the pundits said it was all about the economy, stupid, but in the end it was really all about petty special interests. DNC got it, RNC didn’t. DNC win.

The two most important state issues were gay marriage and legalizing marijuana. Look at the states who had those referendums on the ballot and then look at how the Dems overcame anticipated polling deficits.

Look also at heavy welfare states in economic trouble versus the states which are relatively stable.

The election ended up being about socialized welfare, gay marriage, and legalizing pot.

:(

but they still had to LEAVE THE COUNTRY FIRST to re-apply for residency.

Yeah, heh, like the business concerns would buy into that?

Would pink unicorns fly them home and back to the INS offices for processing, too?

The real demographics, Drudge linked article

14 million less voters this election

Not just the hurricane, it was every state

entagor on November 7, 2012 at 2:55 PM

Considering that the polls late in the campaign showed the public was opposed to the massive negativity of the campaign… Obama was able to beat down the turnout.

tkyang99 on November 7, 2012 at 3:39 PM

Yeah. Insanity, isn’t it?

1. Our borders would have been secure.
2. Sure, illegals would have been “pardoned” for breaking immigration laws, but they still had to LEAVE THE COUNTRY FIRST to re-apply for residency. They had to go back to the end of the line like everyone else.
3. There would have been a new worker ID program setup to allow for migrant workers to work legally. That would have meant more taxes and revenues in government coffers.
4. And most important of all…THE ANTI-HISPANIC IMAGE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WOULD HAVE BEEN REPAIRED.

Would this have been so bad?

And yet, we threw all of this away….for what? Our “principles”?

Alright, so, who’s our candidate for 2016?

John_Locke on November 7, 2012 at 2:04 PM

Obama, like Chavez

14 million less voters this election

Not just the hurricane, it was every state

True but until conservatives become true believers in real freedom, they won’t be able to speak to a new demographic. No one knew where MR stood, but they suspected, deep down, that it wasn’t on basic principles of freedom, and that would negatively impact what they really cared about, no matter their skin color. Making this a racial/value thing is a cop-out.

Alright, so, who’s our candidate for 2016?

John Kasich seems like a no-brainer to me. Everytime I saw him on the campaign trail, I kept thinking, damn he can be one fantastic candidate.

IMHO running someone like Rubio would just seem like we’re trying to run our own version of Obama. It could backfire.

Can anyone seriously argue that conservatives were not “fired up” for his election? For all of Romney’s flaws, can anyone argue that “The Base” did fall in love with him after he cleaned Obama’s clock in the first debate? And, unlike in 2008, can anyone deny the overall state of the economy did not help the Republican candidate this time! Yet despite the fact everyone from George Will to Dick Morris to Charles Krauthammer to Michael Barone was predicting 300+ Romney landslide, Obama wins 332-206 instead. What does this outcome tell you about the current demographic strength of the Republican coalition?

One very stark figure from last night’s election:
In 2012, 70% of the electorate was white.
In 2008, 73% of the electorate was white.

You don’t have to be a genius to see where this is going.

The fact is the USA is in the midst of a historically unprecedented demographic transformation, and the Republican party is stuck in it. America has changed and left the GOP behind.

@John_Locke

The GOP needs to speak to the new demographic, and the trick is this: they need to realize that people don’t care about “values.” They care about freedom. With true freedom, values take care of themselves. People become moochers when they think that’s the only way for them. True commitment to freedom will resonate with the new demographic because that’s where real hope lies. It’s why Ron Paul had such cross the board appeal. The GOP needs to wake up.

John_Locke on November 7, 2012 at 2:05 PM

agreed. Ultimately there are only two kinds of Amercans left. Net producers and net consumers. They have the numbers.

DeathtotheSwiss on November 7, 2012 at 2:07 PM

Actually thought about that today. Maybe I should run for local office as a lib.

We would then lie, cheat, slander and sabotage the movement from within.

Or something.

You guys should look at Christian Whiton excellent opinion piece on FOX where he explains why Mitt lost (i.e., he wasn’t a true conservative ideologue) and where conservatives need to go if they want to get back in the game. In end, they need to move closer to what Ron Paul explicitly stands for. Some quotes:

“They need to show how a private market allocates resources better than even smart Ivy Leaguers working for a government bureaucracy.

They need to say that the American century only ends when we decide we’re no longer exceptional in mankind’s history, and choose the European model of decadent decline over a destiny of freedom and self-reliance.

In the end, the Republican establishment thought they had this election in the bag. They decided to play it safe with a moderate. They stuffed a candidate down the party’s throat who opportunistically had been on both sides of most issues and told people what he thought they wanted to hear, rather than what he believed.

Recovery begins with saying goodbye to this Beltway GOP establishment. No more Romneys. No more Bushes. No more McCain”

See: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/06/where-republican-party-goes-from-here/

RomanticIdeal on November 7, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Don’t think this is true, I think demographics won last night, doesn’t have much to do with the message.

Can anyone seriously argue that conservatives were not “fired up” for his election? For all of Romney’s flaws, can anyone argue that “The Base” did fall in love with him after he cleaned Obama’s clock in the first debate? And, unlike in 2008, can anyone deny the overall state of the economy did not help the Republican candidate this time! Yet despite the fact everyone from George Will to Dick Morris to Charles Krauthammer to Michael Barone was predicting 300+ Romney landslide, Obama wins 332-206 instead. What does this outcome tell you about the current demographic strength of the Republican coalition?

MARCUS

“They need to show how a private market allocates resources better than even smart Ivy Leaguers working for a government bureaucracy.

They need to say that the American century only ends when we decide we’re no longer exceptional in mankind’s history, and choose the European model of decadent decline over a destiny of freedom and self-reliance.

In the end, the Republican establishment thought they had this election in the bag. They decided to play it safe with a moderate. They stuffed a candidate down the party’s throat who opportunistically had been on both sides of most issues and told people what he thought they wanted to hear, rather than what he believed.

Recovery begins with saying goodbye to this Beltway GOP establishment. No more Romneys. No more Bushes. No more McCain”

See: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/06/where-republican-party-goes-from-here/