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Subscribe to RSSAs Mitt Romney's long, hard-fought race for the presidency came to an end, the campaign faced a stinging loss – and at one point even cut out the audio on broadcast screens in the campaign's election night ballroom as the results poured in. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
As Republicans sort through what went wrong for former Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Tuesday, they might look back ruefully at four words that became forever associated with the GOP nominee: "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."
There are varied reasons for President Barack Obama's re-election to a second term, from changing demographics to superior campaign organization and beyond. And Obama's broad margin in the Electoral College meant that no single state was responsible for his victory over Romney.
David Goldman / AP
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives to his election-night rally, Wednesday, Nov. 7, in Boston.
But as Republicans begin to pick through the aftermath of Romney's loss, Romney's struggles to address his opposition the 2009 rescue of General Motors and Chrysler stymied an effort to gain a foothold in Obama's Midwestern "firewall," and turn his attention to other key battleground states.
Related: Romney's chances in Ohio tied to softening auto bailout stance
It was an issue with which Romney struggled for the duration of the campaign, as Obama traipsed across Midwestern states, hammering away against his Republican opponent on the issue, while touting the resurgence of GM and Chrysler following the billions in aid provided to the companies.
A strong majority - 60 percent - of voters on Tuesday in Ohio said that they had approved of the auto bailout, and Obama beat Romney among those voters by a healthy 73 to 25 percent difference.
In Wisconsin, another state that composed Obama's firewall (along with Iowa), a majority of voters - 53 percent - said they had approved of the bailout. Obama bested Romney among those voters, 79 to 20 percent.
Republican political strategist Mike Murphy joins Chuck Todd to talk about Mitt Romney's struggle to court the popular vote.
Those numbers suggest that Romney's effort over the past year to recast his opposition to the bailout, put bluntly, failed.
Romney's New York Times op-ed opposing then-President George W. Bush's efforts to extend aid to the troubled automakers came just weeks after the 2008 election -- four years ago next Saturday, to be exact.
And while it's unlikely that the former Massachusetts governor himself wrote the provocative headline that would stick with him through his 2012 campaign, he wrestled and struggled with the issue throughout his battle with Obama.
Even in the primaries, Romney's conservative challengers argued it was callous for him to have supported the Wall Street bailout while opposing the auto rescue, especially as a native son of Michigan whose father ran a car company when Romney was young.
Romney reasoned that the managed bankruptcy endured by GM and Chrysler was actually his idea in the first place. And then he pivoted to argue that bondholders and dealers were shortchanged in that process, to the benefit of autoworkers' unions, which had backed Obama in 2008.
But neither of those arguments seemed to resonate in the long term, prompting Romney in the closing weeks of the campaign to address his deficiency with a deeply misleading pair of radio and TV ads stoking fears that Jeep was planning to move production from the U.S. to China.
Those ads were ostensibly an effort to make gains with swing voters in the outlying areas surrounding Toledo, the home to a major Jeep production facility.
But Obama carried Lucas County, which includes Toledo, last night by the same margins as 2008. The president also carried nearby Ottowa and Wood Counties (albeit by a slimmer margin than '08), despite Bush having won both in 2000 and 2004.
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For those who think the GOP can be dislodged in the near future, good luck with that. Check into the gerrymandering that happened because of the 2010 census. Yes, the Democrats had gerrymandered for decades and kept control of the house for the longest continuous period (1955 - 1995). However, this go around, the GOP did their gerrymandering in a methodical and consistent way, across every state they controlled. Even as Texas becomes more of a minority populated state, the GOP will maintain control of their congressional representatives in the house. Lastly, gerrymandering doesn't have anything to do with the Senate or President. As you can tell, from this election, the minority party (GOP) kept control of the house, but lost Senate seats and the Presidency. If you don't like it, change the "redistricting" laws!
There may need to be some Federal court intervention into the gerrymandering that went on in the states affected by the Voting Rights Act.
The GOP/TP weren't conservative enough. Maybe if they adopted an Atilla the Hun military policy and a Pope Alexander IV religious doctrine they could win the presidency of the United States of America. You know, kick all those loser moderates out of the GOP. The RINO politicians that listen to their neighbors and constituents.
Good Luck GOP, remember Go Conservative or Go Home!
A vote of thanks to descent, and right thinking fair minded Americans who saw beyond Mitt Romney's blatant LIES and distortions.
I have not a shred of empathy for Mitt and his lap dogs Rudy Giuliani, John Sununu and Rience Priebus. etc
If I had spent my entire day, week after week for the past month, watching a news channel or listening to talk radio programs which virtually ASSURED me that on election night my candidate would not only win, but WIN BIG, and then on election night that same candidate not only lost, but LOST BIG, I would have serious concerns as to the motivations, if not the competency, of my news sources.
FOX, Hannity, Limbaugh, Levin, Beck, Erikson, Coulter, Ingraham, Morris, Palin and Rove, among countless others, perpetrated a fraud upon their loyal and passionate conservatives followers, and they did so less for reasons of political principle than for corporate market share and personal profit. In short, there is money to be made in promulgating hate and perpetuating fear.
The choice is yours, Righties, stay in the bubble and lose, or venture out, moderate, compromise, and restore the 'grand' to the Grand Old Party. Then deal with the 'old' part, as that path going forward will bring only ruin.
Hey! All those news stations dumped Romney even before MSNBC or NBC. How ironic.
Mitt never overcame his outright lies about many things, including the auto bailout, his connection with Delfi, and his repeated claim that Jeep manufacturing would move to Matrian sweat shops if Obama won. How could ANYONE stomach the outright lies from Mittens?
I was reading earlier that Ryan might make a run for President in 2016.......he can't be serious!
He would stand about as much chance of becoming president as a snowflake would have in Hell!
Shows how dumb he is ,why would the population of the country want to elect someone to head this country when he keeps his fortune in foriegn countries and banks while he goes around ,won't answer questions ,runs his mouth constantly and lies about any and everything he can put his hands on . Romney you should be embarresed enough to move to a different country or go back to your MORMON heritage if they will let you.You have disgraced them !
Ryan already knows how to lose ,it should be easier the second time around.
Romney is a success story. What has Obama done other than just writing a few books? He is learning on the job. When America suffers in the next four years, just remember yesterday. - An outside observer that doesn't even live in N America anymore.
Did you miss that Election thing that just happened?
Your hero lost (again).
And if you don't live here or love America (It's plain you don't), buzz off.
Hey, Canada -- Have you written and published any best-sellers lately? Last time I checked, the United States is a community at the national level. Who better to have as President than someone with experience as a community organizer! (Much better than a vulture capitalist.)
Didn't Romney take credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden?
It was a very unfortunate statement made by Mitt at the beginning of his campaign when he said that "he was the White Guy In The Race" he had the gall to say that he was going to be elected because of his "Race". Well Willard Mitt Romney: SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
It's not just the auto bailout thing. The Republicans are failing to connect with not only with African Americans and Hispanics, but with young people, particularly young women. Many Republican ideas are solid, and have merit, but those ideas were lost in the anger and the blaming. Those good ideas were lost when Christianity was used as a political weapon. ...when we were told that PBS must have it's budget cut, but military spending must increase. ...when we're told that gays and lesbians can be cured, as if they are diseased. ...when it's a sin for a man to marry a man, but when a women becomes pregnant from rape, it's God's will. ...when Mitt Romney says trust me to be your President, but you can't look at my tax returns. These are huge disconnects with modern society. We all need a Republican party to help balance the Democrats, but we need a different Republican party. The evangelical preaching, gay fearing, war loving, wealth favoring, country music twanging, NASCAR racing, nostagia making, talk radio listening Republicans need some rebranding. You're getting older every year.
All the corporate money, all the blatant lies, all the attempts to hinder voting, and they got nothing, exactly what they were offering.
cant wait till Hillary Clinton takes it in 2016! A woman like her will make the world a better place! Women want to protect the family! We all win!
Without LOVE and Family we are nothing! Money means nothing$$$$! Without the Kiss from MOM on christmas, the children smiling, the love of spending time as AMERICANS! Lets keep our fragile way of life ALIVE!!
I don't doubt Mr. Romney can genuinely make the economy better, but benefitting whom? In that path he seems to feel perfectly comfortable canning employees and closing businesses as needed, not what the people who vote for you wants to hear during these perilous times.
OK, Obama is in for another 4 years, I am still not convinced he saved the auto industry. I really believe he only saved the UAW, and that is payback for huge campaign contributions. As for Romneys 47%, I think the only problem is with the estimate, it is a very large percentage but certainly not 47%. We'll just sit back and see what happens but I don't think it's gonna all be good.
REPUBs have failed to connect with a large number of people and underestimated the power of women.
For me to vote again for a REPUB candidate he can't be a LIAR and he/she MUST connect and work with the other party!
I decided not to vote via absentee ballot like I have in the past because of all the attempts to suppress the vote here in Fl. And I am glad I did considering what's going on now. I am also thrilled to see the "people" won this election and not all that money!! It really restores my faith in our Democracy.
I think that it is about time that all Conservative states succede, and form our own country. Something like The Conservative States of America.
Then, invade the United States of America, and plaster (every liberal who refuses to surrender)'s brain over the nearest object.
Conservatism is what this country was founded on, and it is what it is meant to be.
We were here first, and liberals are trying to take it away.
Its about god damn time that we put these idiotic @!$%#ers down.
Our country founded on conservatism? You call seceding from the Union Jack and starting a war conservative? If Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, espoused the right to revolution, does that make Occupy Wall Street conservatives since they are practicing their right?
Agnostic Conservative -
I made a similar statement (as an Independent) last week and almost got flogged!
To your point "conservatism is what this country was founded on" may be true but it's not 1770's any longer and REPUBs must come into the 20-teens or be left behind!
They weren't able to relate to many in our country in this last election and they lost.
Agnostic,
Please don't secede, the world doesn't need another Third World country. But if you do, when the few prosperous conservative states decide they're tired of supporting the rest of you, you'll have to apply to us for foreign aid.
It's about time that people started realizing that most of the Republicans have a very narrow and rigid mindset that is not compatible with thinking about anything but their own personal interests. The comment Bill O'Reilly made yesterday of the power of the "white establishment" being gone is largely what they all think. A party that is only centered on one demographic (rich white men and their wanna-bes) will no longer work in this country and it was bound to be a rude awakening for a group that largely doesn't live in the real world.
As far as the auto bailout goes, maybe next time some politicians will think twice before considering disregarding such a large percentage of the population depending on one industry.
hey stupid..it wasn't a bailout....it was a bribe for the UAW...what will you say when GM goes under and the taxpayers get stuck with the bill?.....oh....if you supported the ass obama you probably don't earn enough money to pay taxes....my bad!!!!
mcpaddywhack -
Got any bones dude? You sure didn't win with all your heated words!
When will Romney and the rest of the Republican party realize what was done was for the good of the country? My analogy to Mitt and his "Let Them Go Bankrupt" is this: when a toddler is learning to walk, a good mother doesn't leave him down on the ground. She/he picks him up so he can start over.
It is not the problem of the successful, to take care of the un-successful.
Everyone in this country has the chance to succede.
If you are 50, and make minumum wage, you are a failure at life.
You had your chance, now stop bothering other people to give you money you don't deserve.
mitt romney was too honorable in his treatment of obama during the campaign....romney is an honorable man...obama is a vile low life scumbag who got re-elected by waging an untruthful smear campaign against romney...and unfortunately, there are plenty of dumbfeck americans that believed his horseshiat.....you stupid feckin' libbies must be really proud of your scumbag president...one thing for sure, he better get off his ass and do something positive or else even some of his incredibly stupid supporters will turn on him.......feck obama and his idiotic followers....
Honestly.
yeah honestly.......i don't think that americans are ready to turn their country over to the obamaites without a fight.....
That's the way to raise the bar of sore losers. You just reached a new high water mark.
I think a few other things also had something to do with it:
- Binders full of women
- The 47%
- "Corporations are people"
- 14% tax rate (vs. twice that for the working man)
- $10,000 bet
- Offshore accounts for "tax management"
- "I like to fire people"
- Head of a vulture-capital firm
...and lots more besides!
and how do these impact the quality of life in the USA??.....another moronic lib...
They don't. If your as rich as Mitt.
I think that it is about time that all Conservative states succede, and form our own country. Something like The Conservative States of America.
Then, invade the United States of America, and plaster (every liberal who refuses to surrender)'s brain over the nearest object.
Conservatism is what this country was founded on, and it is what it is meant to be.
We were here first, and liberals are trying to take it away.
Its about god damn time that we put these idiotic @!$%#ers down.
Why don't you and Skeeter go get your guns and shoot some of em after you get done having sex with your sister and listening to some banjo music.