Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
It's hard to believe that this thread has been diverted into wild claims that conservative positions cost Romney the election.
Let's summarize why he lost, so we can avoid chasing down these rabbit holes.
First, he basically took the summer off and failed to attack Obama or try to establish a negative public persona for Obama, a proven tactic for republicans. In so doing, he followed McCain's disastrous strategy of the previous election. In both cases, I believe they were frightened off by PC fears of attacking a black man, particularly one so beloved by the media and other blacks.
Worse, Romney sat back and absorbed some of the most vicious character assaults I have ever seen in an election, including one claim that he caused the death of a man's wife by denying her medical coverage for cancer. Ultimately, Obama was quite successful in portraying Romney's business success as illegitimate and harmful, undermining Romney's biggest asset. Meanwhile, Romney never made a concerted effort to blame Obama for the poor economy.
Ironically, Obama, who is one of the outright weirdest figures ever to run for president, an aloof, arrogant faculty lounge radical with little in the way of American roots, was able to paint Romney as the odd guy out.
Second, Romney made a disastrous error in selecting Paul Ryan as his VP candidate. Ryan lacked stature and was basically humiliated in his debate with the idiot Biden. Moreover, his sole asset, his health care and budget plans, allowed Obama to shift the focus of the campaign from his failed policies to Ryan's plans. Ryan's plans, while no doubt good faith efforts, offended important republican constituencies and had zero chance of being enacted in any event.
Third, Romney came up short in the crucial third debate when he passed on an opportunity to attack Obama for the Benghazi disaster. This was a golden opportunity to connect with voters and accuse Obama of abandoning brave Americans who were outnumbered and under fire. More broadly, Romney and Ryan both seemed well out of their depth in discussing foreign affairs. Some of this was no odubt due to trying to straddle the fence between the eno-con and Paulite factions, but at the end of the day, his criticism of Obama seemed to lack coherence.
Finally, Romney lost because of the unfortunate timing of Hurricane Sandy, which gave Obama a golden opportunity, duly trumpeted by the obama media, to act presidential. He was aided immeasurably by backstabbing traitor Chris Christie.
Election stats showed that core republican voters, older whites, turned out in disappointing numbers compared to Obama's core, older black voters. Vote fraud no doubt accounts for some of this, but Romney's poor showing as a candidate has to get the lion's share of the blame.
