Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

McCain Beats Romney! The Pennsylvania story -- how did it and so much else go wrong?
American Spectator ^ | 11.9.12 | PAUL KENGOR

Posted on 11/13/2012 9:14:41 AM PST by neverdem

Brace yourselves, conservatives. What I’m about to say will hurt, and it should hurt -- and I’m not the first to notice. (Kudos to Rush Limbaugh, who noticed and is hitting this point hard.) Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election not so much because he got fewer votes than Barack Obama but because he got fewer votes than John McCain in 2008.

Additional votes are still coming in, but, as of the time of my writing, Romney received around 57.8 million votes in 2012. In 2008, John McCain received 59.9 million. Romney got over 2 million fewer votes than McCain. And in the final count, he will almost certainly have received considerably fewer votes than McCain.

Obama received 60.6 million votes in 2012, almost 9 million less than he received in 2008. If Romney would have had McCain’s vote total, he would have been much closer in the popular vote and might have even had enough to win the Electoral College. Or, better put, if Mitt Romney had secured just a tiny fraction more votes than John McCain -- as we conservatives were certain he would -- he might have won the presidency.

We know this: Romney won independents by 5 points, and they made up 29% of all voters. McCain didn’t win independents.

What does this really mean? That’s where the hurt comes. It appears to mean that our side lost because we failed to turn out our side. It isn’t so much that the Obama-Axelrod apparatus turned out their side -- though they did -- but that our side failed to...

--snip--

Imagine: If someone had told you that Barack Obama would receive 9 million fewer votes in 2012 than 2008, you would have predicted his sure defeat. You would have been wrong. Republicans blew a huge opportunity.

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: pa2012; romney
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last
To: snarkytart
Fraud is never okay but the small amount that occurs is not enough to win if we GOTV.

Would you please get a hold of that whiner Alan West and tell him a little fraud is OK.

41 posted on 11/13/2012 10:49:48 AM PST by itsahoot (Any enemy, that is allowed to have a King's X line, is undefeatable. (USS Taluga AO-62))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: jessduntno

It’s your fault for forcing another RINO on conservatives. And this one was pro-homosexual and pro-abortion and pro-open borders and wanted to provide big-box-store jobs to the masses.

Do it again and you’ll get the same results.


42 posted on 11/13/2012 10:53:15 AM PST by donna (Pray for revival.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: jessduntno

I said it before, and I will say it again. I am a conservative. If the GOP nominates a conservative, I will vote for them. However, the GOP decided to nominate THEIR socialist in hopes that THEIR socialist would be the DEM Socialist.

I did not, and will not ever vote for a socialist FROM ANY party. I have traveled to and have lived and worked in Europe and I know and have seen first hand socialism. I will not be apart of supporting any form of socialist or their candidates.

You want my vote, fine, nominate a candidate I can support. Until then, the GOP can continue to lose election after election until they learn the lesson.


43 posted on 11/13/2012 10:54:02 AM PST by taxcontrol
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Strategerist
In my analysis Romney should end up with at least 62 million votes, or over 2 million more than McCaint.

In my analysis Romney was not running against McCain.

44 posted on 11/13/2012 10:54:08 AM PST by itsahoot (Any enemy, that is allowed to have a King's X line, is undefeatable. (USS Taluga AO-62))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: ModelBreaker

“Despite having an attractive, capable, moderate establishment R running, we failed to turn out a key part of our base.”

What, you mean they didn’t know it was election day? Please. We’re screwed for a generation..the SCOTUS, the economy, all of it.


45 posted on 11/13/2012 11:03:26 AM PST by jessduntno ("Socialism only works...in Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they have it." - RR)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: donna

“It’s your fault for forcing another RINO on conservatives. And this one was pro-homosexual and pro-abortion and pro-open borders and wanted to provide big-box-store jobs to the masses. Do it again and you’ll get the same results.”

Please. We’re screwed for a generation..the SCOTUS, the economy, all of it. We may not get a chance to do it again. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And reckless.


46 posted on 11/13/2012 11:05:18 AM PST by jessduntno ("Socialism only works...in Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they have it." - RR)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: snarkytart

In 2008 there was no way to win, the GOP was doomed, and the first black president was making history.

In 2012, there was no way the GOP could lose, Carter II was doomed and the country approaching depression.

Mitt Romney, the failed governor of Massachusetts, who lost his chance for reelection and left office with 34% approval, and who has won a single election in 20 years of campaigning, was the problem, he was an artificial construct who had never been a part of republican or conservative politics, who was only focused on a personal drive to be president for no known reason or purpose.

We still don’t know what his politics are, or why he has been obsessed with being president for 20 years.

People here have different feelings on his election disaster, but everyone here can agree that they really don’t know anything about the man himself, or how the one term governor from Massachusetts ever came to be the leader of the conservative/republican agenda in America.

Mitt Romney, Karl Rove, and the anti-Reagan wing of the GOP are behind this mystery of the last 6 years in regards to William Weld’s protege, Mitt Romney.


47 posted on 11/13/2012 11:08:10 AM PST by ansel12 (Todd Akin was NOT the tea party candidate, Sarah Steelman was, Brunner had tea party support also.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Is it possible that a huge number of the base didn’t want to vote for a Mormon?


48 posted on 11/13/2012 11:11:49 AM PST by Vision (Obama is king of the "Takers." Don't be a "Taker.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jessduntno

The GOP-E tossed morality out and expected conservatives to go along against very specific moral objections. How could the GOP-E have fooled itself so?


49 posted on 11/13/2012 11:11:49 AM PST by donna (Pray for revival.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: donna

“(Kudos to Rush Limbaugh, who noticed and is hitting this point hard.) Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election not so much because he got fewer votes than Barack Obama but because he got fewer votes than John McCain in 2008.”

Four more years of Marxist philosophy shoved into our kids, ObamaCare, economic destruction, John Kerry as Sec. of Defense, a shredded military and AT LEAST 2 maybe 3 more liberal (probably young enough to screw us into oblivion for thirty or forty YEARS) and YOU’RE complaining about the foolish GOP-e? This will teach them, alright. Yep. Nice work. This will teach them GOOD!


50 posted on 11/13/2012 11:19:16 AM PST by jessduntno ("Socialism only works...in Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they have it." - RR)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Strategerist

All this work to convince a bunch of slack-jawed conservative idiots on a forum you can’t stand that the latest establishment loser got a few more votes than the previous establishment loser. Odd.


51 posted on 11/13/2012 11:19:54 AM PST by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard (Some men just want to watch the world burn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: taxcontrol

“You want my vote, fine, nominate a candidate I can support. Until then, the GOP can continue to lose election after election until they learn the lesson.”

Unless you are pretty young, you may not get a chance to vote for a conservative again. Even then, I doubt it. We’re screwed. Four more years of Marxist philosophy shoved into our kids, ObamaCare, economic destruction, John Kerry as Sec. of Defense, a shredded military and AT LEAST 2 maybe 3 more liberal (probably young enough to screw us into oblivion for thirty or forty YEARS) and YOU’RE complaining about the foolish GOP-e? This will teach them, alright. Yep. Nice work. This will teach them GOOD!


52 posted on 11/13/2012 11:24:32 AM PST by jessduntno ("Socialism only works...in Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they have it." - RR)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Just scour various FR threads to see how predictable that turnout, or failure to turnout, was going to be. Romney is a RINO, he’s a Mormon, blah blah blah. So, of course, we’d prefer Obama! He’s a certifiable leftist.

Conservatives can be even stupider than the GOP.


53 posted on 11/13/2012 11:27:35 AM PST by EDINVA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EDINVA

BTTT

You are 100% correct.


54 posted on 11/13/2012 11:31:39 AM PST by Chgogal (Obama murdered the SEALs.They "were hung out to dry, basically exposed like a set of dog balls,...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

I’m not buying it! I’m simply not. Every poll had Republican enthusiasm through the roof! Every report from people I know in strong republican areas where freaking out about the number of people they saw a the polls, myself included. How do our number deminish? I’m not buying that Romney was crap. He’s better than McCain! I’m not even buying the Palin argument because to be honest she has higher negative poll numbers than anyone ever in history.

I believe we were there to vote against Obama. Where did our votes go?


55 posted on 11/13/2012 11:36:00 AM PST by The Toll
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: taxcontrol

Well then, you are just going to love the USA after Obama gets done with us in four years!

Thank you for not voting for Romney. You sure showed them who is boss.


56 posted on 11/13/2012 11:38:55 AM PST by Chgogal (Obama murdered the SEALs.They "were hung out to dry, basically exposed like a set of dog balls,...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: taxcontrol

Well then, you are just going to love the USA after Obama gets done with us in four years!

Thank you for not voting for Romney. You sure showed them who is boss.


57 posted on 11/13/2012 11:39:20 AM PST by Chgogal (Obama murdered the SEALs.They "were hung out to dry, basically exposed like a set of dog balls,...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: The Toll

I don’t buy it, either. There was just too much voter fraud going on to overcome it. The constant barrage of negative ads that Obama ran were also a large factor in convincing the Obama supporters to participate in the fraud, though. They could not have pulled off the massive fraud without the huge negative campaign that they ran. I saw a couple of the Democrat ads on shows that I had DVR’d and I have to say that they were some of the nastiest ads that I have ever seen. They wouldn’t have worked on Republicans for that reason, just on the brain dead Democrat voters that think like the Obamaphone lady.


58 posted on 11/13/2012 11:41:38 AM PST by Eva
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: The Toll

I think the majority of the MCCain Con votes were given to Romney however Romney and McCain were both not capable of expanding the Working Class/Lower Middle Class White vote and that was the difference. Obama was able to get his base to the polls.


59 posted on 11/13/2012 11:43:08 AM PST by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: jessduntno

It really doesn’t matter what you think of my morals.

You wanted the votes but not enough to do what was necessary.

It’s your mistake.


60 posted on 11/13/2012 11:51:15 AM PST by donna (Pray for revival.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson