That and his message of ‘socialism lite’ did him in.
Once it’s established that it’s good for people to get stuff they haven’t earned, why would anyone ever vote to get less ‘free’ stuff?
And the switch of Catholics from majority Democrat to majority Republican didn’t happen either.
But he won the red states. Why would socialism-lite hurt him in the swing states, where conservatives are way sparser? Would conservatives reject him there and vote for Obama or not vote because they think they can do better? I guess my question would be why conservatives in swing states would stand on principle when they're used to settling for crumbs or getting nothing at all when conservatives in red states routinely vote for RINOs at the national level. Something doesn't compute with this line of reasoning.