UPDATED Noon ET: Paul Ryan’s claimed that the “urban areas” were a principal reason for President Obama’s win. And while turnout increased in many population centers in swing states Obama won, they don't fully explain Obama's sweeping win.
“The surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout especially in urban areas, which gave President Obama the big margin to win this race,” Ryan claimed last week. “When we watched Virginia and Ohio coming in, and those ones coming in as tight as they were, and looking like we were going to lose them, that’s when it became clear we weren't going to win.”
With provisional ballots counted in the last few days, the president did increase his vote total in many "urban areas" in swing states he won. On Election Night, as votes were coming in, it wasn't the case that the president was running up the score.
The president's margins weren't atypical for Democrats. They run up margins in population centers, and President Obama is no different. And certainly Obama's margins in Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is, and Northern Virginia, put the president over the edge. But they weren't unusual or particularly high.
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So far, in Ohio and Pennsylvania, in fact, his vote totals are off from 2008, though ballots are still being counted and election results will change as more votes are counted. In 2008, more than nine million votes were counted after Election Day.
The one place where Obama did increase his totals significantly in population centers was Florida. There, he gained 56,000 more votes than 2008 in three counties – Miami-Dade, Hillsborough (Tampa), and Orange (Orlando). That’s 76% of his winning margin in the state.
In other swing states Obama won -- like Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nevada -- Obama increased his vote totals, but not enough to significantly impact the overall vote margins in those states.
The “urban areas" vote
FLORIDA: +56,000 (Obama’s FL margin was +74,000)
Miami-Dade: +42,000
Hillsborough (Tampa): +13,500
Orange (Orlando): +700
VIRGINIA: +12,000 (Obama’s VA margin +149,000)
NoVA (Alexandria +3,000, Arlington +2,000, Fairfax +5,000, Fairfax City +100, Falls Church +400): +9,500
Richmond: +2,000
WISCONSIN: +11,000 (Obama’s WI margin was 205,000)
Milwaukee: +800
Dane (Madison): +10,000
IOWA: +7,500 (Obama’s IA margin was 92,000)
Polk (Des Moines): +7,500
COLORADO: +6,000 (Obama’s CO margin +123,000)
Denver: +5,000
Boulder: +1,000
NEVADA: +5,000 (Obama’s NV margin was 68,000)
Clark (Las Vegas): +9,000
Washoe (Reno): -4,000
OHIO: -60,000 (Obama’s OH margin +106,000)
Cuyahoga (Cleveland): -37,000
Franklin (Columbus): -9,000
Lucas (Toledo): -14,000
PENNSYLVANIA: -61,000 (Obama’s PA margin +284,000)
Philadelphia: -37,000
Allegheny (Pittsburgh): -24,000


Now that the election is over I would like to hear the details of Romney's plan for all the jobs. If he was a real American that loved his country he would tell us his plan and save the country even though he lost.
Waiting to hear the details but I won't be holding my breath
There are no details !!!
THE PEOPLE !!!!
When Romney/Ryan opened there mouth 3% of what they said was FACT!!
Got to Fact Check your self !!!
IS THERE ANY WONDER ROMNEY/RYAN LOST!!!
The republicans are looking for the reason they've lost to president obama ??? let me help you guys , first thing , drop MORONI , and turn back to JESUS CHRIST !!! drop the GREED , drop the LYING , drop the HIPOCRICY , drop the SELFISHNESS , drop the SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS , drop the WELFARE ENTITLEMENT FOR THE RICH , drop the ARROGANCE , drop the OFFSHORE TAX DODGING , drop the OBSTUCTIONIST. IN OTHER WORDS , '' DROP THE TEA PARTY '' , AND IT WILL GIVE YA'LL A FIGHTING CHANCE !!!!!!!
tea party sunk the conservatives: America's White People's Party will likely not do what you say, or at least they won't do it without an even more intense civil war going on inside their Party. The leadership is OWNED by their enormously wealthy supporters and they will do almost anything for more economic and political power. The poorly educated, far right wing, extremist, fanatics who make up the blue collar working classes who support American White People's Party candidates at all levels are referred to by their "owners" as the "Necessary Idiots" (hahahahahaha Not my words but theirs). The civil war inside their party goes on and will likely become even more intense, but I don't see much changing even though they haven't won the popular vote in a presidential election since 1988!!!! hahahahaha The good thing here is that 2016 doesn't look promising for them either! hahahaha
Republicans just can't seem to face the fact that they lost as badly as they did because they're out of ideas, and they ran personality and integrity-free candidates with amorphous positions. You don't need to come up with complex demographic theories to explain their loss. All you have to do is look at them and ask yourself, seriously, did they actually think they'd win?
Repubs lost by a landslide. And that made me very happy. I hope the trend continues. The "social issue" zealots cant be gone soon enough for my liking.
Freedom for everyone, finally.
All I can say is that a few people, and yes I was one of them, told them at the beginning of the clown road show they had lost all of the independent women voters. The reason was frothy Santourm and his trying to control women's reproduction rights. Then WV passes the vaginal probe, and you lost more women that may have voted for the GOP.
You stupid old white men won't learn from this, but hey, you don't want to be in power, fine. If you do, then dump the tea baggers, bible thumpers, and the ones who hate minorities and gays. Then present a detailed plan, that is fair to everyone.
But cutting social security, medicare, which are not entitlements, but insurance polices that people paid into all their working lives, didn't help you win any more voters, in fact, you lost voters. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
The poorly educated, far right wing, extremist, fanatics in America's White People's Party have figured out why the President won the election. Mitt Romney stated it last week when he pointed out that the President had given or promised all kinds of "goodies" to the minority races, women, college students and any one else who would vote for him. Romney, however, did not point out WHY Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri---the vast number of southern "red" states---voted overwhelmingly for America's White People's Party candidates, including Romney, the House, Senate and state offices. Hmmmmmmmm..... I wonder why not?
Everyone seems to forget that the Republicans LIKE their party just as it is. It has taken 30 years to fulfill St. Ronald's Dream. So now that they have what they want, they just cant win elections. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. Change, why would they change anything, it is just perfect in their eyes.
Everyone seems to forget that the Republicans LIKE their party just as it is. It has taken 30 years to fulfill St. Ronald's Dream. So now that they have what they want, they just cant win elections. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. Change, why would they change anything, it is just perfect in their eyes.
These analyzations are so stupid. Obama won because more people voted for him than Romney. It's a very simple concept. Get over it. No tricks, no rigged votes, no suspicious supreme court ruling.
This "BAG OF FREE STUFF" stupid rhetoric of the Republican Party !!! WHAT BAG OF FREE STUFF!!!!!!!
Republicans lost the election because of Romney/Ryan and the constant lies, and 47%, and Flip Flop!!!
I know the message Republicans will be different in 2016, or they will loose again!!!!
Republicans thought MONEY!!! could win an election!!!
Paul Craig Roberts served in Reagan Treasury Dept, and also worked as editor at the Wall Street Journal. He knows about what he speaks. He described the horrendous economic situation for the US Economy. He puts blame on Wall Street and US Corporate executives who use Asian labor in outsourcing, rendering the US nation of workers poor.
America’s problems started August 1971!!
These are things Republicans don't want you to remember!!
With inflation unresolved by August 1971, and an election year looming, Nixon convened a summit of his economic advisers at Camp David. Nixon then announced temporary wage and price controls, allowed the dollar to float against other currencies, and ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold. This meant our money was now worthless!!! Inflationary dollars!!
The first signs of impending trouble are the exploding budget deficits themselves. They began, of course, under the parlous economic stewardship of Ronald Reagan. Reagan cut the marginal tax rate on the wealthiest of Americans from 70% to 38%. He promised it would spur an orgy of investment and rocket the economy to new levels of production and prosperity. Instead, his supply side economics did the exact opposite. It produced the deepest recession since the Great Depression.
During Reagan's administration, the unemployment rate declined from 7.5% to 5.4%, with the rate reaching highs of 10.8% in 1982 and 10.4% in 1983. Reagan also earned the nickname "the Teflon President", in that public perceptions of him were not tarnished by the controversies that arose during his administration.
Bush blew through Clinton's surplus in his first year. The 2004 deficit reached $415 billion, a record. Still, its real size is masked by the fact that Bush has shifted $150 billion from the Social Security trust fund in order to make the shortfall look smaller. It's like pretending you're richer when you move money from one pocket to another. Both sums have to be repaid, so the real amount borrowed is the $415 billion nominal deficit plus the $150 billion from Social Security or $565,000,000,000 billion.
Paul Craig Roberts served in Reagan Treasury Dept, and also worked as editor at the Wall Street Journal. He knows about what he speaks. He described the horrendous economic situation for the US Economy. He puts blame on Wall Street and US Corporate executives who use Asian labor in outsourcing, rendering the US nation of workers poor.
America’s problems started August 1971!!
These are things Republicans don't want you to remember!!
With inflation unresolved by August 1971, and an election year looming, Nixon convened a summit of his economic advisers at Camp David. Nixon then announced temporary wage and price controls, allowed the dollar to float against other currencies, and ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold. This meant our money was now worthless!!! Inflationary dollars!!
The first signs of impending trouble are the exploding budget deficits themselves. They began, of course, under the parlous economic stewardship of Ronald Reagan. Reagan cut the marginal tax rate on the wealthiest of Americans from 70% to 38%. He promised it would spur an orgy of investment and rocket the economy to new levels of production and prosperity. Instead, his supply side economics did the exact opposite. It produced the deepest recession since the Great Depression.
During Reagan's administration, the unemployment rate declined from 7.5% to 5.4%, with the rate reaching highs of 10.8% in 1982 and 10.4% in 1983. Reagan also earned the nickname "the Teflon President", in that public perceptions of him were not tarnished by the controversies that arose during his administration.
Bush blew through Clinton's surplus in his first year. The 2004 deficit reached $415 billion, a record. Still, its real size is masked by the fact that Bush has shifted $150 billion from the Social Security trust fund in order to make the shortfall look smaller. It's like pretending you're richer when you move money from one pocket to another. Both sums have to be repaid, so the real amount borrowed is the $415 billion nominal deficit plus the $150 billion from Social Security or $565,000,000,000 billion.
As a numbers kind of a guy, I am eager to see the ROIs (returns on investments) – ratios of campaign dollars spent by each party and affiliated superPAC to targeted votes received (both popular and electoral). Anybody seen such an analysis yet?
I think a lot of people simple did not like Mitt Romney he lost New Hampshire by a lot. Urban excuse does not fly there.
He lost Iowa by 6 points. While the state's urban/rural concentration continues to move toward urban no one would mistake Iowa for an urban state.