The Big Ears events really were sparsely attended, but the Acorns of this world knew that was not what counted. What counted was the main poll. THAT is where they patiently beat the small b bushes and got the Crowds Of Zombie Voters.
That was Romney's fault for having no ground game. With $1b at his disposal, he's got no excuse. Obama got 1.5m fewer votes than Bush in 2004. Freepers have also said 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).