If you a conservative Republican, I will sum up my analysis in one word:
DISASTER
And yes, I put the word in caps for emphasis. Maybe I should have used two words:
COLOSSAL DISASTER.
Romney loses. The GOP loses seats in the Senate. Republicans barely hang on to the House. Congressman Allen West loses. Michele Bachmann is losing (as I write this). Mia Love (the supposed GOP Rock Star) lost in Utah.The Tea Party had a rough night. (Mourdock, Akin, etc.) Shall I go on?
Quick thoughts on Romney/Obama race:
Let’s get straight to the point. He was never the right candidate. Plain and simple. The anti-Obama vote got him close but it wasn't enough. He wasn't a sweeping vision candidate. People weren't voting so much FOR Romney. People were voting more AGAINST Obama. It’s tough to win that way. He had limited appeal. The Obama campaign did a masterful job of taking his career at Bain and using it to define him early as a greedy, rich businessman. The Romney campaign didn’t fight it aggressively enough. Bad move.
Also, Romney did poorly with Hispanics. Here’s the stat of the night: Nonwhite voters turned out to vote in higher numbers than ever. They made up 21 percent of all voters. In 1996, they were just 10 percent.
Hey GOP…wake up. What is your plan to reach out to Hispanics? For the most part, they are pro-family and socially conservative so maybe the party should get to work on a strategy next week huh?
We’re still getting the evangelical numbers so we’ll have more on that late on Wednesday but it’s pretty safe to say that Mitt Romney’s problem was not with evangelicals. They did their part.
The auto bailout position killed Romney in the rust belt states of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. He couldn’t recover.
Finally, give it up for the Obama Campaign. They have a great ground game and a likeable candidate. That’s crucial. Don’t underestimate that.