[nathanbedford]

I’m not sure if you conveniently attribute the “mistakes” of Romney’s campaign in that long paragraph to others, or simply predicting the lame analyses to appear in the coming days and weeks and to freeze in history books for the foreseeable future.

The simple truth is, I do not know and that is precisely why I did not make an assertion but set forth matters to be considered. There are many posters on this thread who think they do know but I am skeptical that they have read the raw data and even if they read them, I am skeptical that they are sophisticated enough properly to analyze them.

We are keen to assert blame and advance our philosophical predisposition: Romney could not have one because he was a Rino; Romney lost because he lost Hispanics and women and got pushed into an extremist corner. Romney should have run farther to the right or he should have run further to the left.

My point is that we have to be careful about what conclusions we draw and why and, equally important, we have to ask the right questions. Was this a mechanical failure or is it simply an unpalatable truth that conservatism does not sell? Somebody's opinion on these issues is of absolutely no value even if written on this thread in bold capital letters and italicized.

Where is the data?

[Revolting cat!]

All you predictions are coming true. Predictably so. Yet, you are correct, where is the data? Is there one answer. I ask? I say that greed, class resentment and racial guilt (among whites) won, but what do I know. Would any of the Obama voters admit to these sins? The low turnout of registered Republicans is a puzzle. Are the currently employed comfortable and lazy? Are the unemployed afraid to lose their benefits? Perhaps we ought to look elsewhere for answers, places like Argentina which voted itself from the 5th (?) economic powerhouse in the world into a permanent Third World status.