Let’s Not Panic Over Romney’s Defeat

[Annie]

It was a well-run race on Kerry's part, but not good enough. In recent history only Reagan and Clinton were able to unseat an incumbent and they were both very charismatic and adept campaigners. A marginal victory by Obama is nothing to panic over even given his lackluster presidency unless the Dems can find another candidate who can turn out the black vote (read black candidate) and appeal to a significant portion of white and Hispanic America. 2016 will go to the GOP with an economy invariably in shambles.

Invariably the economy will be much better in four years. This would be true if Romney had won also, as it has more to do with a natural business cycle than anything the President or Congress may do. As far as beating an incumbent, it is very hard. Clinton may well not have won in 92 had Perot not been running.

Obama is a small business nightmare and the actual costs of Obamacare are soon to be realized.. The economy, the national debt will be far far worse in 4 years...

May or may not be true, but Obama won. With that said, really can't see why any conservative would take advice or criticism from a liberal.

 

[jgarden]

The American Spectator : Let

First of all, Romney ran a damned good race. He was up in the polls by as much as 7 points (Gallup) going into the last week. Where he got sandbagged was Hurricane Sandy. The storm captured the nation's attention and pushed the election off the front page. It gave President Obama a chance to act presidential (with vague memories of President George Bush Jr.'s initial inaction on Hurricane Katrina reverberating in the background) and to shake hands with Chris Christie. Now I don't fault Christie either and don't see any nefarious plot to maneuver for 2016. A governor has to act on behalf of his state. Parts of New Jersey were devastated, and if Christie had snubbed Obama, it would have put thousands of his constituents in immediate danger -- and been interpreted as his fault as well.

How does Freewill's "Romney ran a damned good race" explain why he received even fewer popular votes than McCain in 2008?

 

[Annie]

The American Spectator : Let

First of all, Romney ran a damned good race. He was up in the polls by as much as 7 points (Gallup) going into the last week. Where he got sandbagged was Hurricane Sandy. The storm captured the nation's attention and pushed the election off the front page. It gave President Obama a chance to act presidential (with vague memories of President George Bush Jr.'s initial inaction on Hurricane Katrina reverberating in the background) and to shake hands with Chris Christie. Now I don't fault Christie either and don't see any nefarious plot to maneuver for 2016. A governor has to act on behalf of his state. Parts of New Jersey were devastated, and if Christie had snubbed Obama, it would have put thousands of his constituents in immediate danger -- and been interpreted as his fault as well.

How does Freewill's "Romney ran a damned good race" explain why he received even fewer popular votes than McCain in 2008?

Well all well and good, though he got more than McCain:

Popular Vote 2012: Obama is Beating Romney, But Romney is Doing Better Than McCain in 2008

 

[JoeB131]

Prohibition was a left-wing, do-gooder cause.

Other than that, why are you calling yourself a Republican if you see the left as adding to freedom?

(Waiting for Jake to start deflecting again.)

Progressivism has always been a movement, and on occasion a party. It has left and right wings. The left tries to add freedom and liberty (abortion, women's vote, Civil Rights act, etc) while the right tries to restrict certain behavior (the Mann Act, Defense of Marriage Act, Prohibition, etc).

The women and minorities taught the GOP a lesson we must learn if we want to win in the future.

Nothing is to be learned from the libertarians, our far right extremists, and the social values right wing progressives in the Republican Party.

right wing progressives? That is an oxymoron. Unless Teddy Roosevelt is still alive.

 

[JoeB131]

First of all, Romney ran the worst campaign in living memory for such a well funded candidate.

Amen! I'm 65, and he was the worst piece of shit presidential candidate in my lifetime to date.

Don't be ridiculous. Dukakis, Dole, Kerry and McCain all ran much worse campaigns.

Um, no, they really didn't.

Dole, Kerry and Dukakis ran against the incumbant party when times were pretty good. McCain ran for the incumbant party when times were shitty. It wasn't their campaigns that was the problem, it was the ground they fought on.

Romney had the most favorable ground for a challenger since Ronald Reagan in 1980. And he STILL managed to not only lose the presidency, but lose seats in the House and Senate to boot.

 

[JoeB131]

As a final note, it's fun to watch the Right throw Romney under the bus.

yes, he was an awful candidate, but you all knew that when you nominated him.

 

[Unkotare]

Amen! I'm 65, and he was the worst piece of shit presidential candidate in my lifetime to date.

Don't be ridiculous. Dukakis, Dole, Kerry and McCain all ran much worse campaigns.

Um, no, they really didn't. .

Um, yeah, they really did. You have a short memory.

 

[JoeB131]

Don't be ridiculous. Dukakis, Dole, Kerry and McCain all ran much worse campaigns.

Um, no, they really didn't. .

Um, yeah, they really did. You have a short memory.

Naw, I really don't.

Yeah, you have a few gaffes like Dukakis in a tank, but frankly, Romney was just one fuckup after another.

 

[Unkotare]

Dukakis driving the tank, Kerry windsurfing, Bob Dole referring to himself in the third person, Kerry's headcase wife, Dukakis way out in left field, Dole barely awake half the time, Kerry speaking (and acting) French, etc., etc.

 

[Mac1958]

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Yeah, I didn't think Romney ran a terrible campaign. He was just himself, and that was the problem.

.

 

[Freewill]

Dukakis driving the tank, Kerry windsurfing, Bob Dole referring to himself in the third person, Kerry's headcase wife, Dukakis way out in left field, Dole barely awake half the time, Kerry speaking (and acting) French, etc., etc.

My suggestion is to let it go. They are not happy enough with winning because they know Obama ran on nothing and only won because he is black and because Obama ran a very effective nasty divisive campaign. The election wasn't on the economy or who could do the better job it was on identity politics. The left can't feel good about that so they must continue to lash out. Actually I think the fix was in and there was nothing anyone could have done to not have Obama win.

 

[JoeB131]

Dukakis driving the tank, Kerry windsurfing, Bob Dole referring to himself in the third person, Kerry's headcase wife, Dukakis way out in left field, Dole barely awake half the time, Kerry speaking (and acting) French, etc., etc.

None of which compare to...

"I like to be able to fire people"
"the 47% are moochers"
"I can't have illegals here, I'm running for office, for Pete's Sake."
"I'm friends with NASCAR Team Owners"
"Ann has Two Caddies!"

Grandstanding on Benghazi, then sulking away when bitch-slapped by Candy Crowley.

Picking Ryan as a running mate. (Even worse than Sarah Palin). Then hiding him like a crazy uncle.

Not being able to stand up to Rush Limbaugh, or even Bryan Fischer.

 

[JoeB131]

Dukakis driving the tank, Kerry windsurfing, Bob Dole referring to himself in the third person, Kerry's headcase wife, Dukakis way out in left field, Dole barely awake half the time, Kerry speaking (and acting) French, etc., etc.

My suggestion is to let it go. They are not happy enough with winning because they know Obama ran on nothing and only won because he is black and because Obama ran a very effective nasty divisive campaign. The election wasn't on the economy or who could do the better job it was on identity politics. The left can't feel good about that so they must continue to lash out. Actually I think the fix was in and there was nothing anyone could have done to not have Obama win.

Oh, are you kidding, I feel GREAT about it.

I told you idiots day one, picking the Mormon was a horrible idea, and if you did, I'd vote for the Democrat.

You picked the MOrmon, I voted for the Democrat, you lost.

Wow... big surprise.

 

[Freewill]

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Yeah, I didn't think Romney ran a terrible campaign. He was just himself, and that was the problem.

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All these pretenders who voted for Obama and want to blame Romney for them doing so is really getting quite old.

I guess it is being done because the Obama supporters know the country is broken by Obama and the economy is not going to get better. So instead of blaming themselves for rewarding 4 years of nastiness and division they want to blame Romney for their poor choice. I just wish the pretenders would man up and say they were never going to vote for Romney no matter what he did, or worse what Obama has done. Honesty would be refreshing but I expect more of the same BS.

 

[JoeB131]

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Yeah, I didn't think Romney ran a terrible campaign. He was just himself, and that was the problem.

.

All these pretenders who voted for Obama and want to blame Romney for them doing so is really getting quite old.

I guess it is being done because the Obama supporters know the country is broken by Obama and the economy is not going to get better. So instead of blaming themselves for rewarding 4 years of nastiness and division they want to blame Romney for their poor choice. I just wish the pretenders would man up and say they were never going to vote for Romney no matter what he did, or worse what Obama has done. Honesty would be refreshing but I expect more of the same BS.

I was pretty straight up from the beginning wouldn't vote for Romney no matter what he did.

The discussion on Romney was over the minute I found out he was a Mormon.

Mormon? Evil Cult that wants to establish God's Kingdom on Earth? We're done. Nothing else he said at that point mattered.

It's why the rest of the GOP didn't see this as a cult doing a hostile takeover of their party that horrifies me.

Romney wasn't just a terrible candidate, he was a terrible person, and you nominated him anyway.

And Obama took him apart the same way Ted Kennedy did in 1994.

 

[Mac1958]

Romney wasn't just a terrible candidate, he was a terrible person, and you nominated him anyway.

What the hardcore Republicans simply don't (or, more likely, won't) understand is that there are many voters who really just want two good options from which to choose. These people are going to defend their party no matter what, even as it's burning down around them. They refuse to show one ounce of weakness or contrition, even after losing amid 8% unemployment, even after completely calling the election results wrong. They will not come out of the comfy little world they have created for themselves.

What I'm wondering is how long it's going to take before the sane people can re-capture the party. Will it be soon, like 2014 or 2016, or will it take a complete collapse and subsequent (and inevitable) over-reach by the Dems?

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[JoeB131]

Romney wasn't just a terrible candidate, he was a terrible person, and you nominated him anyway.

What the hardcore Republicans simply don't (or, more likely, won't) understand is that there are many voters who really just want two good options from which to choose. These people are going to defend their party no matter what, even as it's burning down around them. They refuse to show one ounce of weakness or contrition, even after losing amid 8% unemployment, even after completely calling the election results wrong. They will not come out of the comfy little world they have created for themselves.

What I'm wondering is how long it's going to take before the sane people can re-capture the party. Will it be soon, like 2014 or 2016, or will it take a complete collapse and subsequent (and inevitable) over-reach by the Dems?

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Given the way Romney is being thrown under the bus (couldn't happen to a nicer guy) I supsect the GOP far right won't be satisfied until they nominate a far right-winger, and he proceeds to lose by Goldwater level proportions.

 

[Unkotare]

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Yeah, I didn't think Romney ran a terrible campaign. He was just himself, and that was the problem.

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He tried to play it too safe when the moment called for a more aggressive push toward the finish line. It was his to win or lose, and he lost it.

 

[Unkotare]

I was pretty straight up from the beginning wouldn't vote for Romney no matter what he did.

The discussion on Romney was over the minute I found out he was a Mormon.

Yeah, we know, you're a hateful, vile fucking bigot. You only demonstrated that about 1,000,000,000,000,000 times over the past several months.

 

[Unkotare]

Dukakis driving the tank, Kerry windsurfing, Bob Dole referring to himself in the third person, Kerry's headcase wife, Dukakis way out in left field, Dole barely awake half the time, Kerry speaking (and acting) French, etc., etc.

None of which compare to...

"I like to be able to fire people"
"the 47% are moochers"
"I can't have illegals here, I'm running for office, for Pete's Sake."
"I'm friends with NASCAR Team Owners"
"Ann has Two Caddies!"

Grandstanding on Benghazi, then sulking away when bitch-slapped by Candy Crowley.

Picking Ryan as a running mate. (Even worse than Sarah Palin). Then hiding him like a crazy uncle.

Not being able to stand up to Rush Limbaugh, or even Bryan Fischer.

Your political bias and personal bigotry color your outlook on the matter and render your 'opinion' illegitimate. You cannot be taken seriously on this matter.