I’m convinced Akin and Mourdock cost Romney about 2-3% - not enough to swing the election, but it would have been much closer had they kept their mouths shut.
And that was something completely beyond Romney’s control.
Much more of an influence than Sandy, IMHO.
The big flaw with Romney, was an over-reliance on consultants, the same as McCain.
A good candidate shouldn’t need consultants....Reagan sure didn’t need them.
Romney was within Romney’s control. And he should never had entered the race. He lost to McCain, fer crying out loud. Effing RINOs will never learn.