There may be another factor involved. I've been hearing that Obama got 2.5m fewer votes than Bush in 2004. I've also heard anecdotally from freepers that Romney had no ground game - Obama had paid staffers doing GOTV whereas Romney used volunteers exclusively. He should have hired Rove, the GOTV expert, as a consultant. I guess he's used to knowing everything. Sometimes being too smart is a handicap. Romney not only wanted to win, he wanted to win his way - via ad blitzes. If he had done it Rove's way, he would have won. One thing GWB had going for him was humility - not the kind where you say you are humble, but actually defer to the experts. (Of course, given GWB's sparse resume - while far superior to Gore's, Kerry's or Obama's - he had much to be humble about, relative to GHWB).
Carl Rove was “working” for the Romnay campaign through his American Crossroads super PAC. The problem is all of these third party organizations are great at ramping up voter turnout in the final push toward the election, but they are no substitute for firmly entrenched party organizations who employee people to go out an meet local constituents and build a base within a precinct.
I live in an area of Phoenix with a changing demographic that is becoming more Hispanic and younger, but I have the same old white dude who only comes around once every two years to give me a party handout telling me how I should vote. If the party was smart, they would find a younger, more energetic, true believer who can articulate a conservative message and would be willing to go door to door and meet folks and talk with them about issues that affect them. They should be out there looking for new families that move into the neighborhood and preaching them the gospel of fiscal and social conservatism an how it can benefit their families.
Oh, and all future candidates should be able to pass a simple “foot in mouth” test... quit yapping if you cannot articulate your position on conservative social issues well.
I'm not sure I agree with you there. I haven't seen the turnout numbers, but it is hard for me to imagine an improved ground game squeezing out more votes for Romney.
He should have hired Rove
The liberals would have had a field day with that. A direct link back to W.
I saw Romney repeatedly slandered in social media and there was no response. If I tried to point out how the post was untrue, I would be viciously attacked. Facts don't matter.
Image does.
I'm not sure I agree with you there. I haven't seen the turnout numbers, but it is hard for me to imagine an improved ground game squeezing out more votes for Romney.
He should have hired Rove
The liberals would have had a field day with that. A direct link back to W.
I saw Romney repeatedly slandered in social media and there was no response. If I tried to point out how the post was untrue, I would be viciously attacked. Facts don't matter.
Image does.
I'm not sure I agree with you there. I haven't seen the turnout numbers, but it is hard for me to imagine an improved ground game squeezing out more votes for Romney.
He should have hired Rove
The liberals would have had a field day with that. A direct link back to W.
I saw Romney repeatedly slandered in social media and there was no response. If I tried to point out how the post was untrue, I would be viciously attacked. Facts don't matter.
Image does.
Sorry about the triple post. I’m not sure what happened there. I swear I hit the post button only once! :)
I stand corrected. I now am reading how turnout was down compared to 2008—and may even be down compared to 2004. Shows what I know. It seemed like it was way up from my personal experience, but the numbers tell a different story.