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The Voters who stayed Home (bitter pill: Republicans re-elected Obama)
National Review Online ^ | 11/10/12 | McCarthy

Posted on 11/11/2012 11:27:31 AM PST by pabianice

The key to understanding the 2012 election is simple: A huge slice of the electorate stayed home.

The punditocracy — which is more of the ruling class than an eye on the ruling class — has naturally decided that this is because Republicans are not enough like Democrats: They need to play more identity politics (in particular, adopt the Left’s embrace of illegal immigration) in order to be viable. But the story is not about who voted; it is about who didn’t vote. In truth, millions of Americans have decided that Republicans are not a viable alternative because they are already too much like Democrats. They are Washington. With no hope that a Romney administration or more Republicans in Congress would change this sad state of affairs, these voters shrugged their shoulders and became non-voters.

“This is the most important election of our lifetime.” That was the ubiquitous rally cry of Republican leaders. The country yawned. About 11 million fewer Americans voted for the two major-party candidates in 2012 — 119 million, down from 130 million in 2008. In fact, even though our population has steadily increased in the last eight years (adding 16 million to the 2004 estimate of 293 million Americans), about 2 million fewer Americans pulled the lever for Obama and Romney than for George W. Bush and John Kerry.

That is staggering.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; 2012analysis; 2012electionanalysis; andymccarthy; conservatives; cutoffnosevoters; elections; gop; gopcivilwar; gotv; obama; republicans; rinos; romney; romney2012; voterturnout
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To: driftdiver
Heresy will get you condemned to the pits of hell.

UH OH...

Do you think it will help me if, on the judgment day, I proffer my Obozo vote as a mitigating factor?

121 posted on 11/11/2012 12:46:29 PM PST by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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To: Elsie

Your loud mouth response confirms my point. Do you ever look in a mirror and acknowledge that image in the mirror is part of the problem.


122 posted on 11/11/2012 12:46:49 PM PST by monocle
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To: svcw

O.K.... If 100% of voters means 100% of them voted.... What the hell does 158% of voters voted mean? It means someone stuffed the ballot box... One county in Ohio had 785,000 registered voters. 980,000 voted in that county....DAA!This happened all over the states with no voter I.D. laws.... You know, the laws that the democrats hate.
We will never have an honest election again. This is proof that the democrats have their matrix for the future elections.


123 posted on 11/11/2012 12:48:51 PM PST by baddog 219
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To: TalBlack
Initially I wasn't going to vote for Romney but my dilike for Obama overruled and I voted out of pure anger.

I did the same thing. Up until the time I got in the voting booth, I was going to vote for Gary Johnson, simply to help his party maintain major party status in this state in future elections.

I let friends, family and certain posters on this site guilt me into voting for Romney.

What did I get? Obama - and the libertarians failed by 1% in getting enough votes in this state to maintain major party status.

I'm taking myself to the woodshed AND giving myself a timeout over that one.

Particularly annoying to me about my decision is that I knew that individuals have no "right" to vote for POTUS anyway. That will likely double my self-imposed woodshed trip and timeout.

124 posted on 11/11/2012 12:49:52 PM PST by elkfersupper ( Member of the Original Defiant Class)
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To: Elsie

Yeah Elsie, I’ll be lectured by a wacky little religious bigot. No thank you.


125 posted on 11/11/2012 12:52:03 PM PST by Andrei Bulba (No Obama, no way!)
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To: A CA Guy
Those who found themselves in some way to ethically superior to vote for Romney helped bring us Obama again. They deserve no mercy IMO. I think those on the right knew darn well the stakes this time, so we had some messed up in the head not voting this time IMO.

The only people messed up in the head are the leaders of the Republican party who refuse to look at history and understand their base. At some point you have to look at reality and realize that nope Bush I did not work for us nor Dole, McCain and gee now Romney joins the crew...surprise, surprise! Gee, by now I think it is well documented that rinos lose.

Maybe, just maybe smart men figure out if they want to win they put up a conservative so their base comes out.

At some point people have to deal with the reality of their party if they want to win, it is just that simple.

126 posted on 11/11/2012 12:56:45 PM PST by Lady Heron
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To: Elsie

Yes, you do (you’re ridiculing people who did whatever they could to oust the Tyrant).

And there you sit on your high horse claiming “I have principles” and I won’t vote for Romney because he’s not the perfect candidate (in spite of the fact that he truly understands the economy and is much stronger on defense than Obama).

You naively think that this country can abruptly transition from its current pathetic liberal mindset to conservative mindset OVERNIGHT if we simply run a TRUE conservative candidate. False!

You’re a dreamer. It’s just no longer possible in this country given the huge fascist/Marxist brainwashing that has occurred.

Instead, I firmly believe that the ONLY way we’ll get back to a Reagan-like era is by incrementally changing the mindset.

Romney would have been a good stepping stone in the right direction.

You’re simply too naive and idealistic to understand this.

I fault people like you who didn’t use their vote to oust the Tyrant just as much as I fault liberals. Both groups are to blame for my having to suffer 4 more years of this crap.


127 posted on 11/11/2012 12:57:47 PM PST by AlanGreenSpam (Obama: The First 'American IDOL' President - sponsored by Chicago NeoCom Thugs)
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To: Andrei Bulba

The psychotics like most ABRs are gloating.


128 posted on 11/11/2012 12:59:26 PM PST by GlockThe Vote (The Obama Adminstration: 2nd wave of attacks on America after 9/11)
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To: kabar; Strategerist
Who do you guys think you are, introducing FACTS into the discussion??? /s

McCain's popular vote total the day after the 2008 election was reported as 55.8M.* He ended up getting an additional 4.2M votes. By my very rough estimate, Romney has over 3M uncounted votes**. He's going to end up well ahead of McCain and very close to Bush's 62M in 2004.

*http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/05/election.president/

**http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/main

129 posted on 11/11/2012 1:03:32 PM PST by Ken H
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To: GlockThe Vote

They should gloat, look what they did to America and to FR. Very sad.

My point was the GOP is only talking the strategy of giving up on everything, rather than what policies are best for America. Not only will the capitulations be bad for America, they will be bad for the GOP.


130 posted on 11/11/2012 1:06:52 PM PST by Andrei Bulba (No Obama, no way!)
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To: dfwgator; All

“The Republican Primary process is FUBAR. Here’s the way to do it......”

You are correct that the primary process is wrong. Your solutions are wrong as well. My solution:

(1) All primaries will be “primaries” NO Caucauses.

(2) All primaries will be CLOSED to registered Republicans only...NO open primaries.

(3) I more or less do agree with you that primaries should be over in less than two months.

(4) IF no candidate has 51% of delegates after primaries are over....then do a runoff simultaneously in all 50 states on the same date between the two candidates with the most votes. Get a candidate that actually is most wanted, not just the best surviver.

(5) Eliminate a convention as being EVER a mode of selecting a candidate. Conventions exist only for PR purposes to crown the winner of voter primaries.


131 posted on 11/11/2012 1:08:14 PM PST by Sola Veritas (Trying to speak truth - not always with the best grammar or spelling)
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To: TigerClaws

Pure BS!

It’s totally impossible to declare voter fraud unless 95% of our side turn out to vote! If we are the real majority and turn out on election day and still lose, then it’s fraud!

Until that happens, claiming fraud means nothing because we have no way to prove it happened.


132 posted on 11/11/2012 1:09:11 PM PST by Randy Larsen (Aim small, Miss small.)
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To: txrefugee

>Boo hoo. The real problem was allowing Democrats to help choose the GOP nominee in open primaries

That is still no excuse for not getting rid of the rats in charge now.

The fools that stayed home are like the cowards that won’t make an attempt to someone in need because the needy are not perfect.

Spiteful inaction on their part.


133 posted on 11/11/2012 1:10:11 PM PST by soycd
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To: Andrei Bulba

True. The only thing I think will work is a true anti govt, pro freedom, pro gun, pro free speech, pro liberty message.

Romney was not the. Guy for. That!

I went to a gun show yesterday and guess what - half the people there were black and Hispanic males.


134 posted on 11/11/2012 1:17:24 PM PST by GlockThe Vote (The Obama Adminstration: 2nd wave of attacks on America after 9/11)
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To: Sola Veritas

So you think the GOP in DC should select a county and precinct chair in Iowa? That Republicans never meet face-to-face in their own neighborhoods?


135 posted on 11/11/2012 1:17:40 PM PST by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: pabianice

It was fraud, McCarthy.


136 posted on 11/11/2012 1:21:24 PM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: Kozak
You nailed it. I thought the same thing every time I logged on and saw "No Romney! No way!" in bold red letters.

As I mentioned in another thread, all these "principle" conservatives remind me of the Buddist monks torching themselves in the street in Saigon. Sure showed them, didn't they?

137 posted on 11/11/2012 1:32:01 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: pabianice

“This is the most important election of our lifetime.”

Ya, Newt Gingrich said that. And the a**hole GOPe did everything in their power to knock him out.

FNC led the charge along with a bunch of so called conservative news sights such as NRO and talk show radio host, including but not limited to “Wormtongue” Beck.

ONLY the “Cream of the Crop in conservatism,” backed Newt.

So KMA! STFU! and go take a look at yourselves in the mirror.
You so called EXPERTS are ALWAYS full of CRAP!

Ya’ll only drink ‘TEA’ when it suits your agenda!

BTW! You may want to remind John “LIMP D*#K BOOZER,” that it was “TEA” and “TEA” ALONE that returned him to power as “WEEPER OF THE BULLSH*T HOUSE!”

Tell me again why Sarah Palin, the former 2008, Vice Presidential Candidate, was “NOT ALLOWED” to speak at the covention! I would really like to know.

Tell me why Ron Paul’s delegates were shut down and ignored as though they didn’t even exist! I would like to know.

Now, get back to your stinking HELL HOLES from which you came and do your grinding & gnashing of teeth in each others presence! IOW! STFU!

BTW! You may want to check the % of votes cast for the WON, What was that? That’s right! Ya ain’t got the BA*LS!

STOP PISSING IN THE TEA CUP!


138 posted on 11/11/2012 1:32:58 PM PST by billys kid ("Bury me on my head for one day this world will be upside down." (Diogenes))
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To: driftdiver
gee imagine that, faced with an imperfect candidate people stay home and we get four more years of Obama because those bastards voted their ‘conscience’.

Guess there are more of us 'purists' than anyone thought.

@All:

See, We told you so...

139 posted on 11/11/2012 1:43:08 PM PST by roamer_1 (Globalism is just socialism in a business suit.)
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To: roamer_1

yes you should be proud Obama won and you helped him destroy this country.

bravo


140 posted on 11/11/2012 1:49:56 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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