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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: AlanGreenSpam
Romney also had a healthy understanding of separating his religious views from his governing ...

Kinda like Tom Cruise does his from his acting: wouldn't you agree?

241 posted on 11/13/2012 3:20:13 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: AlanGreenSpam
Anyhow, I see I’m wasting my precious time trying to change anti-Mormon bigotry.

No; you are wasting your time going allow with the MORMONs posting on FR who constantly TRY do deflect abhorance the facts of their chosen religion, onto the individuals who are deceived by it.

242 posted on 11/13/2012 3:22:25 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: AlanGreenSpam
No I’m not Mormon and I think the religion is rather odd, but I wasn’t voting for his religion.

Too bad you and countless other did not heed 'the wisdom of the CHRISTIANs' when you where told LONG ago that in would be harder for a MORMON to be elected in a Christian founded country than that old camel and needle story.

243 posted on 11/13/2012 3:25:50 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

...going ALONG...


244 posted on 11/13/2012 3:27:42 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: driftdiver
...I’m sure the guys in the landing craft on D-Day wanted a better boat.

Ya go to war with the weapons ya got.

If the prove to be inadequate to win; you'd better get better weapons next time.


"Es un pobre obrero que culpa a sus herramientas."

245 posted on 11/13/2012 3:35:24 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

bttt


246 posted on 11/13/2012 8:57:33 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: pabianice
I thought the "missing Republican voters" conundrum had already been solved?

Some analyst (I forget who) figured out that GOP voters in some large states -- CA and upstate NY, for example-- were not aggressively pursued by the Romney campaign, due to its focus on electoral vote-rich swing states like Ohio and Florida.

In other words, the popular vote total was viewed as less critical than the electoral vote total. Which is undeniably true.

Was this a smart strategy? I have to say that even though Romney lost, I don't see a flaw in the reasoning here.

Why? Because the GOP is never going to get the electoral votes of CA and NY, unless those states were to change their election laws and begin to award electoral votes proportionally. Which is not going to happen.

247 posted on 11/13/2012 9:11:05 AM PST by shhrubbery! (NIH!)
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To: Elsie

One more time slowly and distinctly in the hope it will penetrate .
I was no fan of Romney during the nomination process.
Once he was te nominee, AND HENCE THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE to 4 more years of a Obama, it was the duty of everyone who opposed the POS to vote for Romney. The fools like you ignored the wisdom of Reagan, and W F Buckley. Until people like you learn to grow up and vote like adults we will see nothing but more Obamas and Pelosis in power.
Enjoy the next 4 years, don’t bitch, you earned what’s coming.


248 posted on 11/13/2012 9:22:46 AM PST by Kozak (The Republic is dead. I do not owe what we have any loyalty, wealth or sympathy.)
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To: Kozak

Such scolding!

What MORE do you want? I voted straight Republican but for one guy.

You’ll accept a non-perfect candidate, but not a non-perfect voter.

Oh well; see you in four years.

Perhaps the powers that be will run a better candidate for president.

I didn’t want the last one.

Sorry that displeases you so much.


249 posted on 11/13/2012 10:10:23 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: A CA Guy
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.

It's not that simple. Who stayed home? Who didn't vote for the top of the ticket or senator too?

The Party’s Problem

Romney was not a drag on the Republican party. The Republican party was a drag on him. Aaron Blake pointed out in the Washington Post that Romney ran ahead of most of the Republican Senate candidates: He did better than Connie Mack in Florida, George Allen in Virginia, Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin, Denny Rehberg in Montana, Jeff Flake in Arizona, Pete Hoekstra in Michigan, Deb Fischer in Nebraska, Rick Berg in North Dakota, Josh Mandel in Ohio, and of course Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana. In some cases Romney did a lot better. (He also did slightly better than Ted Cruz in Texas, a race Blake for some reason ignored.)

None of those candidates were as rich as Romney, and almost all of them had more consistently conservative records than he did. It didn’t help them win more votes. The only Republican Senate candidates who ran significantly ahead of Romney were people running well to his left in blue states, and they lost too.

This isn't bad as an analysis of the GOP, but I'm still waiting for a better analysis of the results.

250 posted on 11/17/2012 4:44:36 PM PST by neverdem ( Xin loi min oi)
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To: BereanBrain
To every Republican there is always going to be some other Republican who is a RINO. This cannot endure but I fear it will never change. I see no way out of this mess because our side refuses to play ball unless we see perfection in our candidates.

I have come to the point of despising "principle" voters. My principles tell me to ALWAYS do everything possible to stop ALL evil Democrats but evidently there are not enough of us and now it may be too late.

I am soured on the whole process and it's just as much because of the "principled" Republicans as Democrats. I see them on the same side. Flame away, I don't care but your way is responsible for this mess from which there is no hope.

251 posted on 11/22/2012 4:45:45 AM PST by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: null and void

Thanks and great job. I just stumble onto your post and it is excellent. We live in a world of lost knowledge and misquotes abound in which the context is lost.

Well done.


252 posted on 11/22/2012 3:17:39 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD

Thank you. It appears Stalin was right. No one seems to care that there was obviously massive fraud, only that there actually was an election.


253 posted on 11/22/2012 4:21:40 PM PST by null and void (America - Abducted by Aliens...)
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma
My principles tell me to ALWAYS do everything possible to stop ALL evil Democrats

Better to worry about stopping evil Republicans - Else there is no ground at all to stand upon. Voting *FOR* liberalism in the Republican party will end in a liberal Republican party (it already has). How does that help Conservatives? There is a reason that more Conservatives are now outside the Republican party than in it. You should ponder that.

The lesser of two evils is still evil, and is nothing to be voted for.

254 posted on 11/22/2012 4:39:49 PM PST by roamer_1 (Globalism is just socialism in a business suit.)
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To: pabianice

I am not one of the ones who stayed home, but it would be nice if the ‘Pubbies learned they can win without Conservatives and that we DO have an option - staying home.

I guess that is too much to hope. More likely they’re going to keep trying to “Hispanic votes” away from Santa Claus or something else stupid.


255 posted on 11/22/2012 4:48:47 PM PST by Little Ray (I have VOTED AGAINST Obama in the General.)
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To: roamer_1
I could not disagree more. While we're waiting for the kind of perfection you're seeking, we're going farther and farther backward.

I fear we are already doomed. I have come to accept that and I see the attitude of people like you being partially responsible for killing our once great nation.

There is no way to save it. We can't even agree on how to get out of this mess. RATS do not have that problem--they hang together and they have prevailed.

Our nation is DEAD and if you didn't vote for Romney, you helped kill it.

256 posted on 11/22/2012 4:54:35 PM PST by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma
I could not disagree more.

Which is why I am no longer a Republican (after more than 25 years), along with many (most) of my fellows.

I fear we are already doomed. I have come to accept that and I see the attitude of people like you being partially responsible for killing our once great nation.

To the contrary - It is people like me who preserve it. Doom came to England despite those who appeased the Nazis. It is precisely when England STOPPED appeasing that it began it's road to spiritual recovery, however short-lived it was. It is the very same thing here and now.

There is no way to save it.

No, there is only one way to save it... And that is not by appeasement, pragmatism, and settling for liberalism. How does voting *for* a Republican socialist 'save the nation'? To the contrary, that would hasten it's demise even more, as BOTH parties would then be socialist (which is nearly true, even now). Socialism makes gains here not by it's own merit - It makes it's gains because it has no opposition.

Our nation is DEAD and if you didn't vote for Romney, you helped kill it.

If that is all it takes to kill this nation, then it was dead long ago... And I will never vote *for* a socialist. That all y'all expect me to is the problem.

257 posted on 11/22/2012 5:26:15 PM PST by roamer_1 (Globalism is just socialism in a business suit.)
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To: roamer_1
Good luck, I know you mean well, but you are not being realistic. So you're too good to be a Republican so how is it working out for you? How much progress are you making toward making this a better country?

Do you vote at all? How can you find anyone worthy of your vote?

258 posted on 11/22/2012 5:30:55 PM PST by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma
Good luck, I know you mean well, but you are not being realistic.

I am being perfectly realistic. Voting for socialism within the Republican party is why the Republicans keep moving to the left. What party is now even nominally right-of-center?

So you're too good to be a Republican so how is it working out for you?

Just dandy.

How much progress are you making toward making this a better country?

Well, I am active in Conservative causes... primarily social conservatism outside of the political sphere... and I support individual candidates according to my means and according to their merit. My health has forced me out of business, but prior to that, I provided jobs to a handful of Americans.

Do you vote at all?

Yes. But I vote according to the merit of the candidate, without any interest in any party.

How can you find anyone worthy of your vote?

My voting criteria is whether the candidate provides support for all Conservative principles - That is what it takes to garner my interest. Thereafter issues regarding general character, and thereafter things of lesser value assignment (things which I can compromise upon).

I was able to vote for most offices on the ballot this year - leaving two blank, because I didn't know the candidates... and I wrote in Hoefling/Ellis at the top of the ticket.

259 posted on 11/22/2012 5:54:07 PM PST by roamer_1 (Globalism is just socialism in a business suit.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks pabianice for the topic and thanks neverdem for the ping.
The key to understanding the 2012 election is simple: A huge slice of the electorate stayed home.

260 posted on 11/23/2012 12:56:47 AM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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