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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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"As Republicans sort through" what went wrong for former Republican nominee Mitt Romney's many reasons for his FAIL???
Sure there are many but don't pick on individual states. Look at his open lies and flip-flops and then you would get a clue. Republicans, Fu$%D up! Admit it, and now it is obvious for Everyone!
Why don't we get move past this and focus on what is Important to our Nation? Like cooperation between Executive and Legislative branches??
Obviously, Conservatives love to blame the sitting President over Legislative branch only when we have a Democratic President in office. But we all need to accept defeat and concentrate on the common issues if we want to avoid catastrophes. Americans spoke, and Conservatives LOST. Now we need to give the winner a chance to take care of the business at hand. STOP OBSTRUCTING PROGRESS AND ADMIT YOUR DEFEAT, Lets move On!!
ALL the extremists will be REMOVED from office at next House-Elections coming up, Americans proved they understand what went on with Obama and obstructionist at the House this past years. We want something better, like COOPERATION??
When you look at the results you see that Romney only lost these swing states - Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida - by a combined 400,000 votes, a couple of percentage points in those states. That's not much out of a total of 108 million votes cast in the US. Therefore, it's hard to accept that his positions were that far out of the mainstream.
What perhaps doomed his candidacy more than anything is the extended primary gauntlet through which he had to pass. Would he even be the nominee if he'd supported the bailout or a few other controversial positions which are now after-the-fact being given as reasons for his loss? Probably not.
That's just one more indication of how polarized the country is and why most of our real problems will prove to be intractable. Specific issues become harsh litmus tests for the candidates by the public with no acceptance of compromise.
The real loser in last night's election may very well turn out to be Obama. He has to find a way to avert a financial crisis, reduce unemployment, and move the country closer to a balanced budget, all while trying to remain faithful to his party's flawed economic ideas. It doesn't sound like much of a future for him. I give him about 6 months before he's wishing that the election had gone differently and he could then have been relaxing on a nice beach in Hawaii.
I actually was not really afraid or angry about what I thought Romney would do and I could even understand his position on the auto bailout if he had just said he didn't agree but was glad it worked out. He never struck me as an evil man - just sort of an out of touch one.
Romney's experience in business is as a profit creator, not a job creator and in no way prepares him to deal with the issues of a national and international macro-economy.
The reason I could not vote for Romney was that I had and have no confidence whatsoever that he would take a stand to protect the rights of people in this country if they became the targets of corporate greed, religious zealots, misogynists, and various and sundry reactionary nut jobs.
If a bill with a tax plan he liked arrived on his desk, he would sign it even if it included a plan to deny voting rights to women, blacks, Latinos and gays. (That's an exaggeration but you get the idea.)
"Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives to his election-night rally"
So close yet so extremely far far away.
50% to 48% and 306 to 206................almost had it.
When you oppress people to the point they cannot afford a T.V., then how will your million dollar campaign commercials reach the masses?
Ok, ok, I know it's a little hyperbolic, but the point of isolationism is non the less valid.
If the billions of dollars spent in this election cycle was paid to workers in higher wages, then our country would be in a lot better shape.
When you take money out of one pocket and pay yourself via campaign contributions, your net loss is Zero, and you get tax breaks on top of your lawful but sleazy transactions.
A lot of people make good money shuffling paper for the wealthy at the expense of our country.
We need campaign finance reform, and living wages.
I must admit, there is some irony in that. I mean, there was a lot of money spent on the tv campaigns but none of that will or could have gone to the deficit. The networks are happy. Just a waste when you think about it.
Repubs can sort through everything they want . This , A Balanced Budget , only matters when a Democrat is in office . The pandering to the Looney Tunes must stop . If the republican party Continues the crazy stuff , They will be viewed as crazy . Truth hurts HUH ?
CARPENTER, Yes, funny how the Right never complained when their poster boy, The Gipper ran up the deficit and doubled the size of "Big Government". And the exact same thing applies to Dubya who took a balanced budger and turned it into a shambles, cut taxes without every paying for them and started 2 wars, both unfunded not to mention his Medicare Drug Plan Part D.
According to the "Dick" Cheney, deficits don't matter.
STAR, Right you are. I neglected that little nugget. What short memory these cretins have.
Would have been nice if just one of them bad the balls to serve in our armed forces, instead of camping out in Paris.
OBAMATIC, didn't you catch his response on this issue some time ago??? He said "They're doing their patriotic duty by helping me get elected". How's that for profiles in courage??? LOL
And don't forget that Willard himself is a world class draft dogder. He supported both the war in Nam as well as the Draft and yet when his turn came, he took student and religious deferments, lifted us his skirts and flew over to France for 2 years.
The force is strong with you Mitt Romney but you are not a Jedi yet.
Stay away from the dark force Tachyeon.
Elementary! Mitt lost because, as anyh half brain can see, Predident Obama is the best man for the job.
I would like to throw out a Congratulations and a thank you to America for not electing Mr.Romney. You saw through him and what kind of man he really is. He is a self-centered,egotistical,self absorbed,lying individual,with only concerns for self, wealth, and power. You are better without him at the Helm.
ART, Could not agree with you more. What did Churchill say? Americans will ultimately do the right thing, after they've tried ever other possible option. LOL
I wish I could say it better. Trump is bouncing off the wall. He backed the wrong horse and is tantruming
like a 3yr old. It must have cost him a fortune backing that loser.
Actually, I wish they would take his Apprentice show off of the air. It is in bad taste how he attacks our president.
Ted Nugent is crying tears of blood. ROFLMAO
Romney's calling 47% of American citizens who LEGALLY don't have to pay 'Federal Income Taxes' was another large factor in his downfall. He himself doesn't pay 'Federal Income Taxes' since his income is derived from Capital gains so in all actuality Romney himself is in that same category!
...just richer. And just like us, he will not be sleeping in the White House on Jan 20, 2013!!
Romney is as out of touch with the lower/middle class as much as the Bushs were, that is why he lost.
The reason Ohio and the other battleground states went fo Obama was that Romney never stopped lying to them. The Jeep,thing,closing plants. Every other ad was a lie. You cannot win that way.
I'll piggy back and add, it is great Romney did not win that way. I was nervous he was going to pull that off. whew!
You must admit, they really searched hard for the right lie to get Willard into office.
What cracks me up is the pugbags who pee and moan about the share/bond holders who lost money on the auto bailouts. Those people elected the board of directors, who appointed the CEO, who ran the company into a fincinal mess.
But when Mitt said he wouldn't help the auto workers, just think of the thousands of people who because of that, didn't vote for etchy sketchy. Now if the GOP is smart, they would pick a decent person(few and far between) and start grooming him for 2016. And also convince the Pailins, Angels, Buchman's type of women to keep away from the camera's and mike's. In other words keep their rears in the closet, out of site, out of mind. Then they might have a chance to win the White House. But that also depends on how they work with Obama between now and then.
Oh please, double down on the Tea Party, republicans.
Romney lost because people are more educated than they were 30 years ago and have access to the internet to research the information as to want the truth is. Both candidates stretched the truth at times, but Mitt was caught down right telling lies. He kind of reminded me of Gore making the statement about helping with the development of the internet.
The biggest lie is the GOP is going to cut the debt.
Below is the list of the last 5 Presidents and their spending by raising the Debt Ceiling:
Obama in 4 Years. - 26%
Bush, GW in 8 Years - 90%
Clinton in 8 Years - 44%
Bush, GH in 4 Years - 48%
Regan in 8 Years - 300%
We are paying a debt for 30 years of borrowed money caused by the GOP
Source from the Gov.:
I hope the Koch brothers eat crow today. They think they are royals dealing with their subjects. They payed
millions for nothing!!!! You can't tell people what to do in America. Got back to Germany and kiss Hitlers ass.
My grandfather was a German Royal. Came here to escape that kind of crap. The others were not that lucky.
... we need to really give glory to that bus boy who taped the 47% comment .... imagine that ... a little bus boy won the election of Obama !!!!
.... have one question ... do you think romney will read FR ??? ...... was kinda hoping he would ...
It wasn't a bus boy,it was Jimmy Carters grandson
Romney never figured out you need a few good sound bites, and stick to them.
Everything he said cost him votes.
Comments about how his wife has two Cadillacs, instead of just saying he is a GM family.
How he likes NASCAR because he knows a few of the owners.
The 47%.
His offshore bank accounts, which he had 10 years to move to the USA, KNOWING he was running for President.
Cleaning up his tax returns.
His callous attitude towards the middle class, and poor.
"I dont worry about the poor"
It goes on and on.
A 15 year old could have run a better campaign !
The Republicans have got to listen to the moderates. The white breads are few and not in control anymore. Listen to minorities if you can find one. Oh yes,Crazy Allen West. Thats a good example of a dry cleaned brain.
Hey, I have all sorts of note books full of minorities! Women too.
Waiting for the toxic Ann Coulter to go on with Piers Morgan again, and watch if she'll go beyond ..... "retard."
It wasn't that. The problem is that the GOP is out of touch on social issues. Most people want a fiscally responsible government, but the social issues are the GOP's caveat. They are ignoring reality when it comes to this stuff.
Romney is out of touch and that is why he lost. I voted for President Obama not because he was a Democrat but because I believe he is a pretty smart guy who was handed a monumental economic meltdown by his predecessor. The President was forced to do a number of things he did to prop up a free-falling economy and, by most accounts, did a pretty good job of softening the blow. Ultimately, however, the President's legacy will be defined by what happens over the next four years. The President has some hard decisions to make including spending cuts and additional taxes to put this country back on its feet. I am looking for the President as well as Congress to work together to make the decisions that have to be made. We are a great country and need to work together to put things back together. We need everything to be on the table. Our forefathers sacrificed their lives to create this country. We can do a lot better than we have been.
The president did what he had to do, even though it maddened his support. Now, we will see more of the president appearing to betray his support in order to work with republican neanderthals in congress.
Regardless of how the GOP-workers dumped the Registered voter cards, how the GOP-CEOs threatened their employees to vote for Romney, how the media published the positive results or comments of Romney/Ryan, how the GOP-led Congress delayed to pass the bills, and how the great financial supports from corporate and foreign nations, the USA voters still delivering the right message that we refuse to be threatened, to be challenged, or to be bribed is to elect the 44 President Obama again.
And the democracy has won the course, loud and clear.
BILLIE, Agreed. This is indeed a triumph for the average citizen over the that of the uber rich and as well as the corporate powers. Much of Obama's fund raising was done in small donations from millions of Americans concerned with the growing oligarchy that people like Romney represent.
Fully agree. It is also a defeat for big money interests with independent campaigns. I bet Citizens United are kicking themselves hard.
To the RNC/GOP - Time wounds all heals.
To the RNC/GOP Heals are wounded in Time.
@Rhino.
" But stop lying about a good man who only wanted to help his country."
...and the auto plants he claimed were planning to move to China in spite of the fact they announced this was not the case???? If you call that anything but a lie, please share.
Its one thing to point out auto plants were being built in China to sell Jeeps in China.
Another to say plants were moving to China.