Yes, white females made the difference, but we overestimated the desire of conservatives to crawl over broken glass to get to the polls to vote against Obama. The fact that the Republican primaries attracted such little interest was a sign that we could not win in the fall. Romney was supposed to be competitive in such states as OR, MI, WI, IA, OH, PA, and MD, where voters like “moderates.” Never happened. Only George Romney’s old rival, Nixon, managed to sit on a lead and win in 1968.
Romney’s “moderate” stances should have been irrelevant; for Obama to win with this economy is a testament to the influence of the media in controlling the debate and the inability of any conservative groups to combat that influence.
Americans showed their economic desperation by electing Obama in 2008; roughly half of them showed that they want the state to care for them. It is small comfort is Romney keeps his popular vote lead (no mandate).
We were born into an amazing country. It was hard to imagine ever losing it.
But chaos is a universal norm. Order is rare.
We had a republic once. We were unable to keep it.