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The Voters Who Stayed Home (The Key to Understanding the Results of the 2012 Elections)
National Review ^ | 11/10/2012 | Andrew McCarthy

Posted on 11/10/2012 5:13:59 AM PST by SeekAndFind

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To: what's up
Dole and the GOP gave you 8 years of Clinton.

People didn't want your candidate. What part of that is difficult to understand.

/johnny

41 posted on 11/10/2012 5:54:52 AM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper
You just keep believing your heirs will be peachy keen.

The face of America has forever changed in the past four years. The next four years will just seal the deal.

42 posted on 11/10/2012 5:56:21 AM PST by World'sGoneInsane
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To: Timber Rattler

New tag line. It is why this was the last election for which I will ever pull the lever for the GOP.


43 posted on 11/10/2012 5:57:15 AM PST by Sirius Lee (Top Republicans, from Mitt Romney ..to Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, are said to be concerned she will)
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To: driftless2
My response is a pox on the people i.e. deluded fools who stayed home

Blame the voter because the candidate was weak? That's a logical thing to do... I suppose, for some values of logic.

Maybe, just maybe, running a conservative next time might work.

/johnny

44 posted on 11/10/2012 5:58:04 AM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper
If the GOP wants my vote, it needs to run a conservative nominee.

...And this is where the STUPID PARTY are contentiously arrogant prix. They have solidly lost THREE of the last 4 elections. They didn't win with BUSH, he was selected. Bush beat Kerry because things were going well.

Look at the FACTS Dole, McCain, and Romney, all RINO losers, but yet republicans do not want to look at the concrete reality. I have denounced my party affiliation and as far as I'm concerned "conservatives" need to coalesce and just leave...The current GOPe diss us any way!!!

45 posted on 11/10/2012 5:58:17 AM PST by sirchtruth (Freedom is not free.)
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To: dforest

Let’s face it. They have bamboozled us. They pick our candidates in open primaries. (Actually, I was happy Romney survived that, and although he was not my first choice I vigorously supported him.) They control the educational system that turns out kids who care more about a “rock star” president and their “rights” to paid birth control than about our decency and survival as a nation. They control the majority of the media. They control many of our electoral machines. There’s no end.

I’m sorry, but a time has to come when we quit pointing fingers and take this country back. That means we have to quit complaining and take back our kids’ educational system. We need to get more of our own media. FOX and talk radio is a good start. We need to challenge every suspicious vote, Allen West style. And damn the torpedos, we have to bring God front and center into our worldview, and use whatever religious freedom we still have in this country to influence it for the good.


46 posted on 11/10/2012 5:58:25 AM PST by keats5 (Not all of us are hypnotized.)
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To: SeekAndFind
I don't that had any bearing [other than speculation]on the outcome of the election.

What I do believe is that the Democrats have found a way to steal any election they desire. And that is through early voting, people registering to vote under multiple names and giving multiple addresses, absentee ballots, and voting by mail. And I have no doubt that there are many more ways. This does away with the need for obama to cancel other elections or to outlaw political parties. Those who oppose him will just be frauded out. To illustrate: The Republican Party will be reduced by the above methods to token numbers and they will support, either overtly or covertly, obama's agenda.

They got obama in the White House and got rid of Allen West and some more of obama's more vocal opponents this time. Next election they will get rid of more.

47 posted on 11/10/2012 6:00:44 AM PST by sport
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To: SeekAndFind

Millions of people voted against Obama by staying home. Because they didn’t really believe in Romney either, they just didn’t vote. If there had been a Conservative Party candidate for them to vote for they would have gone to the polls. Obama would have still won, but the reason why would have been painfully obvious to all these so called experts. Conservatives want your votes to be valued, sought after, and actually counted? Form a new party.


48 posted on 11/10/2012 6:02:08 AM PST by csmusaret (I will give Obama credit for one thing- he is living proof that familiarity breeds contempt.)
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To: muawiyah

Not accounting for facts is a problem. You are right.

I suspect that what I am going to start calling an Intelligent Red Meat Conservatism message may win, and may win for the reasons set forth in this article.

But to say that with any precision, we have to have FACTS. We need to know, scientifically, just WHY those who stayed home stayed home. We need to know just WHY those who voted for McCain (some 2 plus million) didn’t bother to vote for Romney.

I have my suspicions, as we all do. But I don’t know yet. We need that answer.


49 posted on 11/10/2012 6:02:37 AM PST by ConservativeDude
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To: EQAndyBuzz

I disagree that Rubio was the answer. Rubio wasn’t ready, just as Obama wasn’t ready. Putting inexperienced people into demanding jobs due to their racial or ethnic profile is not the answer. Experience and perspective, as well as wisdom, is required for senior leadership roles.

It may be Rubio took himself out of the running. If he was smart he knew he would benefit from additional seasoning another four years in the Senate would provide. He also knew the election would be close and if Romney lost with him on the ticket he might be finished because his image would be tarnished. No doubt the press would have given him the Palin treatment. Instead of taking the number 2 slot now, he likely decided it would be better to wait it out and run for the #1 position in 2016 or 2020.

Romney appears to have received 2 million votes less than McCain. McCain was a lousy candidate. If Romney received 2 million fewer votes in this economy he must have been an even worse candidate.

Consider the following:
1) The Tea Party was the most powerful force in American politics in 2010. Yet Romney made no effort to harness the energy of the Tea Party. We saw very little of the Tea Party in 2012.
2) Romney was the standard bearer of the conservative party but his record showed he was not a conservative. It may be many decided he wasn’t much different than Obama and therefore stayed at home.
3) His ground game collapsed on election day (the computer system). The Dems had an outstanding ground game and technology to get the vote out.
4) Romney made the choice to play it safe after winning the first debate. Obama decided to fight aggressively. Safe loses.
5) The exit polls show the hurricane had a very strong influence on the election in Obama’s favor.
6) The natural inclination of the people is to vote to retain the current occupant of the White House. No doubt many voters were also reluctant to vote against the historical black president. Incumbency is a strong factor, particularly when the opponent is not running aggressively.
7) Being a minority candidate does not automatically translate to winning elections. Look at Allen West this year and Mia Love. If voters are looking for minority Republicans they should have won in landslides.
8) The people elected a Republican House majority in 2010. That conservative House majority was expected to fight for more responsible fiscal policy. Instead Boehner chose to play a passive game and acquiesced to trillion dollar annual deficits. After seeing the Republicans capture the House and then fail to use their power to slow down the spending spree, why would you think a moderate to left Republican President would change the game?
9) People vote for the top of the ticket not the bottom. If it was about the bottom of the ticket Obama should have lost due to Biden’s behavior. If Rubio had been Romney’s VP, the media would have labeled him an inexperienced “token” and convinced Hispanics it would only be meaningful if he was at the top of the ticket.

Like it or not race did play a factor in this election. I believe if Romney had been running against a President Biden, President Hillary Clinton, President John Kerry or President Al Gore, under the same economic conditions, he would have won.


50 posted on 11/10/2012 6:02:37 AM PST by Soul of the South
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To: mouse1

What they did was insure that we will never win at the ballot box again.

After 4 more years of Obama, a conservative is not ever going to win again.

The country will be moved farther left to the point of no return. Amnesty will be granted for sure now, and it will guarantee Dems votes to the point they won’t even have to cheat anymore.

The GOP will go on win or not. It is the good people who showed up to try and save the ballot box who will suffer.

They are too dense to see that now the GOP WILL move farther left. A third party would take many years for a following. Likely they will not get the die hard Romney supporters. So how is that winning?

They have more parties in European countries that never win.

That is the fate.

I am sick of this.


51 posted on 11/10/2012 6:04:49 AM PST by dforest
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To: JRandomFreeper
First of all the election is over...so I'm not talking to you as if I want you to vote for my candidate. Do you understand that?

My attitude had nothing to do with you staying home. That was your own folly.

Here is how I know you are a fool. You tell me to change my attitude and actions or keep losing. JRANDOMFREEPER -- The country is already lost. The consequences of your no vote have been reaped. It is all going to burn and your stupidity was the match. The only thing I can do now is prepare for the inevitable.

52 posted on 11/10/2012 6:06:29 AM PST by carton253
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To: Ken H

Is that true? Millions uncounted? Dang, that seems a lot.

But you are right. We have to match apples to apples, final total votes of McCain to final votes to Romney and start there.


53 posted on 11/10/2012 6:06:36 AM PST by ConservativeDude
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To: rbg81

If they are equally disgusted with both parties, and think the parties are the same, they are not “good hard working” people.

They are lazy idiotic dolts.


54 posted on 11/10/2012 6:07:33 AM PST by C. Edmund Wright ("WTF?: How Karl Rove and the Consultant Class Have Destroyed America")
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To: Soul of the South
Romney appears to have received 2 million votes less than McCain. McCain was a lousy candidate. If Romney received 2 million fewer votes in this economy he must have been an even worse candidate.

If I'm reading the numbers right, Romney's going to exceed McCain's 2008 total and approach Bush's 2004 total. See my post #40.

55 posted on 11/10/2012 6:08:16 AM PST by Ken H
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To: snarkytart
We have our share of Romney haters here on FR, but my guess is that number nationally isn't that large, given the obvious and stark contrast between 4 more years of Obie, vs. Romney. It befuddles how these two candidates could appear as two sides of the same coin.

Regardless, something kept 'em home. Some of the above, some afraid of Mormonism, some GOTV failures, some voter fraud, and media bias for sure. .

It's looking like Mitt's pulled punches re: Benghazi in the later debates was a serious mistake, as it might have convinced many that Mitt has cajones, and forced the media to make it an issue in the final month.

Clearly, the electorate has no clue how much debt 15 trillion is. I'm toying with Al Ahlert's idea that Republicans vote present in the upcoming year, ceding all responsibility for things to come to Obie and the Dems. It's not a pre-election tactic, but now after, we might as well. If we protest and lose, we'll be charged with obstruction. Call their bluff. If Dems can't shoulder blame on us, they'll be less crazy. Similarly, supporting blanket amnesty with one proviso-- no voting rights for 25 years--would dampen, probably kill-- Dems support.

Republican leadership has failed miserably, so it's time for a drastic change. 3rd party ? Rand Paul and Sarah Palin keeping popping into my mind.

56 posted on 11/10/2012 6:09:31 AM PST by chiller (Sky is the limit with max T-Partiers in the House and Senate to stifle the RINOs)
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To: carton253
I'm in Texas, son. Not Ohio. My vote, or lack of it did nothing but get Cruz into the senate.

Quit berating people that don't vote like you want them to, or lose their vote.

How hard is that? Call me stupid? I'm not voting for your guy. That's the way that works.

You are the one name-calling and angry.

Others of us are trying to get conservatives elected.

/johnny

57 posted on 11/10/2012 6:11:04 AM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: dforest

No, the takers won’t multiply in 4 years- that’s because there will be no more money for them in short time.

THey have run out their use for Hussein. He doesn’t need to give them a thing. Watch how he ingnores them like they were a bunch of Staten Islanders without power, water, heat & shelter.

The media will follow BO and ignore them as well. BO will eventually ignore the media and shut them down if they dare to report on him. It doesn’t go both ways for him.

BO is the only taker that matters. There will be much more taking over the next four years, months, really, is all it’s going to be for him.


58 posted on 11/10/2012 6:12:59 AM PST by stanne
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To: dforest

I am sick of this.

Me too. I am so angry and sad. I cant believe we let our Country go down like this.


59 posted on 11/10/2012 6:13:23 AM PST by mouse1
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To: C. Edmund Wright
They are lazy idiotic dolts.

Because with a sales line like that... you just can't miss.

What you are doing hasn't worked. Maybe try not calling people that don't vote for your candidate idiots... crazy as that sounds...

/johnny

60 posted on 11/10/2012 6:13:52 AM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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