patrick.net

http://news.msn.com/politics/why-mitt-romney-lost

Lots of reasons in the article:

"That Mitt Romney lost nonetheless is in part a tribute to his own weaknesses as a candidate. The Obama campaign put Romney on the defensive early about his work at Bain Capital, and left him there. The Republican nominee made any number of horrendous gaffes. He ran a disastrous GOP convention. He never found a way to talk about himself or his agenda in a way that middle class voters could relate to.

"But even a clumsy candidate might have beaten Obama if not for a simple factor that could not be overcome: the GOP’s growing extremism."

I disagree. Mitt Romney isn't a personable man. He is a very wealthy guy who is extremely out of touch with most Americans. He couldn't possibly speak for me, nor can he understand me as a person. If he met me on the street, he would be as condescending as when he was describing the lesser people when he didn't think anyone was watching.

His father was Governor, and he was raised to expect wealth and to expect that he would be deferred to. He didn't appear to understand that respect is something that is earned, and that his offer to bet Rick Perry $10,000 during a debate was condescending and reflective of his attitude toward most Americans who can't afford a $100 bet, much less $10,000.

Mr. Romney and his wife never struggled, never worried where their next meal would come from, never had to look out the door and see if the neighbor's lights were out when their power was cut off (because it was usually lack of payment of the bills and not a power outage). Mitt Romney wasn't a self-made man, he was an opportunist whose lack of compassion and understanding showed through the entire time he was running for office.

Mitt Romney was a man whose wife suffers a debilitating illness but they never had to worry about paying for it - nor did they ever have to choose which medication she would take because they couldn't afford them all. The people who
became unemployed as a result of his "successes" at Bain Capital know what that's like... but not him.

Mitt Romney was out of touch with the common man and woman. He is an elitist, and he doesn't speak for me or anyone I know. And, IMHO, that's why he lost.

What ought to pain Republicans most about Barack Obamas victory is that 2012 was entirely winnable for them. In European elections over the past few years, voters have thrown out leaders who were in charge during the worst of the financial crisis, whether those leaders deserved the blame or not. Economic indicators in the United States, where an unemployment rate of 8 percent is highly correlated with defeat for the incumbent party, pointed in the same direction. Obama himself had proven a disappointment to many of his former supporters, going from a beloved symbol of generational and social change in...

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