My Two Cents: Why Obama Won And Romney Lost

This will probably be the last post on the meaning of this loss, but, this is part of a conversation I was having with a moderate Republicans who voted Obama and a moderate Liberal who voted Romney late yesterday. Consider that, in exit polls,

• 52% said that the country is on the wrong track.
• Only 23% rated the economy positively.
• Only 25% said they were better off than 4 years ago. 51% want smaller government.
• 38% said unemployment was their most important issue, 37% said rising prices

Those are some big points. Yet, somehow, Obama won. One reason could be that Obama beats Romney 53% to 43% on being able to relate to the average voter. Ace provides ten reason as to why Romney lost. Surprisingly, turnout was also low, in what should have been a big election for the Right. Did those who where Obama voters, but said they preferred Romney now stay home? Who knows?

John Hinderaker writes why

…there is a much more important proposition that, I think, was proved false last night: that America is a center-right country. This belief is one that we conservatives have cherished for a long time, but as of today, I think we have to admit that it is false. America is a deeply divided country with a center-left plurality. This plurality includes a vast number of citizens who describe themselves as moderates, but whose views on the issues are identical or similar to those that have historically been deemed liberal.

Is that right, that we are a center left nation now? On one hand, no. When people are asked for self identification, they choose liberal less than conservative. When people are given surveys, their answer invariably put them more on the right then the left. They want smaller, less intrusive, less spending, and more responsible government. This certainly bears out in the State races and for the US House. However, it seems when we vote for President and Senate we get votes for the hard fascistic left. Why? Refer back to Aces reasons. Let’s also consider three things

1. Most of America are soundbite and driveby voters. They are not paying attention to the details. They hear soundbites. They see quick commercials and ads. They do not dig into the details. They do not find out the reality. They hear and see things about Romney being mean when it comes to Bain, but don’t take the time to find out that Romney wasn’t at Bain at that time. There’s a trope about most people being captured for 30 seconds or 3 paragraphs on the web. Many times, the reality is buried in articles, which disproves the headline and/or the initial info in an article. These are people who can tell you the intimate details of Lindsay Lohan’s life, but can’t give you the details on what the policy positions are of the people they are going to vote for. They get involved late in the game, agitate and speechify, but are speaking in talking points. And often wrong.
2. Which leads to the media. The vast majority of the media leans to the left, and, as we all know, push their political leanings in their stories. And by not pushing stories. Imagine had Fast and Furious and Benghazi occurred under a Republican president. There would be massive investigation by the media. Instead, when they bothered to cover these stories, they mostly offered protection for Democrats and the President. How many stories were written about Abu Ghraid? While certainly massively improper conduct, no one was really hurt, and no one died. The DOD, including Rumsfeldt, already knew about it and actions were being taken. Yet, the media laid it directly at Bush’s feet. Cindy Sheehan was a media darling, the parents of the ex-SEALs killed in Benghazi were mostly ignored. The media is almost wholly a branch of the DNC at this point. While they were bad in 2004 (remember the fake CBS report on Bush?), they were worse in 2008, and might as well have been on Obama’s payroll in 2012.
3. People like free stuff. And when it comes to voting, it seems that even moderates and Independents like free stuff, and respond to messages of free stuff in their voting habits. Doesn’t matter than 40% is paid for with borrowed money, that the rest is someone else’s money, that the debt is projected to go up another $4 trillion under Obama, that deficits are over a trillion dollars, that there is around $172 trillion (that’s $172,000,000,000,000) in unpaid liabilities on the books, they want some of that sweet, sweet federal money. Yet almost half of taxpayers have a net zero federal tax liability. They have no skin in the game. And don’t realize that the people with money are going to shift it to shelter it. They want their free stuff. It’s hard to compete against a message of free stuff with a message of “hey, we want to empower you to make your own money.”

So, what is to be done? Liberals own the media, the schools, and the government bureaucracies. Conservatives have small parts in all three, but will never be able to take any over. It would take at least a century. Liberals/progressives have been working on these for at least that long. Romney ran a great campaign: he was the adult in the room, the guy with experience and competence. He appeared presidential. He had viable, real world plans. He wasn’t promising hopey changey unicorns and lollipops. He talked to people, not down to them. Yet, he lost.

One thing I’ve been saying for the better part of a decade is that Republicans need to fight like Democrats. They need to get down in the mud. Who’s really throwing Granny off the cliff? It’s those who refuse to reform the safety net systems that are almost bankrupt. Paint the Dems as extremists. Understand that two can play the game, and beat up on Democrats. A good chunk of Obama’s message was false and negative. The media rarely called him on it and the soundbite voters never took the time to find out the reality. Fight fire with fire. You might say “hey, we have our scruples, our morals”, but this is politics. It has always been a nasty game (heck, Hamilton and Burr dueled to the death over competing notions of how big the central government should be), and Republicans need to start playing this game when it comes to the presidency and the Senate. It’s a little easier with the House and State government. We need to learn that if you are going to fight, fight! The media will portray Republicans negatively regardless. Get your message out to the people, and make sure that the people know the faults of the Democrat. People respond to highly negative ads. Republicans can be the adult in the room when they’ve won.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.