This just in: Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are "shell-shocked" by this unexpected news.
You know, I can't blame Romney and Ryan for being shocked by the results, because all their advisers and campaign strategists, as well as almost every conservative analyst, truly believed Romney was going to win. Their people on the inside were telling them they were going to win; it wasn't just a dog and pony show to make things look good. What is so shocking is that fact that all these "inside people" misread the electorate so poorly. Based on what they were expecting, they were predicting a Romney win approximately the size of the Obama win. In actual votes, Obama won by 3 million votes, so they expected Romney to win by 3 million votes. That makes them off by 6 million votes or five points. Obama won by about 2.5%. Reverse it and it is a five point difference. That is a lot to be off in the final polling. It's rather horrific to call yourself a pollster and be off by that much.