Why Did Pres. Obama Win Re-Election...Really ?

[Shell Beach]

Obama won because of a fundamental shift in the demographics of the country as well as in attitudes toward how much government is good and what it should do. Without that, Obama could never have been re-elected with the economy he has. 30 years ago, he'd have lost rather soundly.

Yes, there are more of the people that want to suckle from the teat of government and fewer of the people that pay for them to do it. An untenable situation.

[soulflower]

Obama won because of a fundamental shift in the demographics of the country as well as in attitudes toward how much government is good and what it should do. Without that, Obama could never have been re-elected with the economy he has. 30 years ago, he'd have lost rather soundly.

Quit making excuses for why your guy lost.

The economy today isn't much different than 2004, 2000, or 1992.

Obama's job approval is around 50% which pretty much ensures re-election for an incumbent.

Incumbents in general are difficult to beat. Romney lost because he was a lousy candidate with no vision up against a very popular incumbent...

[Mom49of4]

Obama ran a nasty campaign.

[soulflower]

Obama ran a nasty campaign.

Both campaigns were nasty at times...

[Shell Beach]

Quit making excuses for why your guy lost.

The economy today isn't much different than 2004, 2000, or 1992.

Obama's job approval is around 50% which pretty much ensures re-election for an incumbent.

Incumbents in general are difficult to beat. Romney lost because he was a lousy candidate with no vision up against a very popular incumbent...

Fact is, a lot of people in America are lacking in the intellect department and they vote that way too.

BTW, no way you can say that Obama was "very popular". That may have been the case in 2008; it's not now.

A transformational opponent would have smoked him.

[kandace]

He won because the "grown ups" are outnumbered by the "children.". Grown ups are responsible; children expect the grown ups to give them stuff.

My 5 year old recently told me she wanted to stay a kid. When I asked her why she told me it was because kids don't have to do anything.

It really is the beginning of the end of the greatest nation ever. The giveaways are unsustainable. I'm glad I'm not counting on a pension, especially a government pension, or social security. Can you imagine the backlash when austerity measures take place in America's inner cities? . It won't be pretty.

Meanwhile, Obama, the supposed Commie Pinko socialist enemy of economic freedom, won impressive victories in 8 of 10 of America's wealthiest counties.

In an election that often focused on debates about class warfare, President Barack Obama was favored over multimillionaire businessman Mitt Romney in eight of the nation’s 10 wealthiest counties. And his margin of victory in all eight counties was greater than that of the national vote, in which Obama was leading by 50 percent to 48 percent with 97 percent of precincts reporting.

[Mom49of4]

Both campaigns were nasty at times...

Obama was negative the entire time.

[veritas]

Quit making excuses for why your guy lost.

The economy today isn't much different than 2004, 2000, or 1992.

Obama's job approval is around 50% which pretty much ensures re-election for an incumbent.

Incumbents in general are difficult to beat. Romney lost because he was a lousy candidate with no vision up against a very popular incumbent...

It's not an excuse, just a fact. Obama would have been another Jimmy Carter 30 years ago; maybe even 20 years ago. With unemployment and the economy as it is, there wasn't much for Obama to run on other than simply being Obama the star. The media played along and made Bain and Romney the issue instead of Obama's record.

Also, and more importantly, the electorate is more hispanic, more black, younger and has more single women. All of those groups are either majority liberal or vastly liberal. It's going to be harder and harder for conservatives to win without showing why their ideas are superior and successfully countering the idea fostered by the liberal media that they somehow have antipathy for these groups.

[soulflower]

Fact is, a lot of people in America are lacking in the intellect department and they vote that way too.

When your guy loses, the majority voters are stupid. Got it

[soulflower]

Obama was negative the entire time.

That's your opinion.

My opinion is that Romney was negative from the primaries through the general election...

[kandace]

It's not an excuse, just a fact. Obama would have been another Jimmy Carter 30 years ago; maybe even 20 years ago. With unemployment and the economy as it is, there wasn't much for Obama to run on other than simply being Obama the star. The media played along and made Bain and Romney the issue instead of Obama's record.

Also, and more importantly, the electorate is more hispanic, more black, younger and has more single women. All of those groups are either majority liberal or vastly liberal. It's going to be harder and harder for conservatives to win without showing why their ideas are superior and successfully countering the idea fostered by the liberal media that they somehow have antipathy for these groups.

Jimmy Carter appeared weak and indecisive due to the Iranian hostage crisis while there was also a Cold War with the USSR and the Vietnam War humiliation was still current news. The Cold War is history with the youth in their early 20s having been born after the USSR's collapse. Obama whacked the premier terrorist boogeyman of Generation Y's childhood trauma
(9/11). And people as well as the economy have become acculturated to high gas prices. Conservative attempts to frame O as Jimmy Carter II were doomed to failure from the start not merely because the electorate has changed but because the geopolitical situaation has changed.

[NCBirdfan]

Obama was negative the entire time.

Can you please give examples?

[Shell Beach]

When your guy loses, the majority voters are stupid. Got it

Actually, that was a dumb thing for me to write. I retract it. That was sour grapes.

[soulflower]

It's not an excuse, just a fact. Obama would have been another Jimmy Carter 30 years ago; maybe even 20 years ago. With unemployment and the economy as it is, there wasn't much for Obama to run on other than simply being Obama the star. The media played along and made Bain and Romney the issue instead of Obama's record.

That's the point. The economy today isn't as bad as it was when Carter lost. Plus Carter's job approval was in the 30s. Obama is at 50% job approval. You guys need to get over your weird obsession with Reagan and 1980.

Also, and more importantly, the electorate is more hispanic, more black, younger and has more single women. All of those groups are either majority liberal or vastly liberal. It's going to be harder and harder for conservatives to win without showing why their ideas are superior and successfully countering the idea fostered by the liberal media that they somehow have antipathy for these groups.

I agree that minorities made a difference but it shouldn't be ignored that Romney did poorly in the predominantly white industrial states as well.

Most of Obama's supposed problems with white voters is exaggerated by the fact that he lost white voters in the South and some other Solid republican regions by extremely lopsided margins. The rest of the country was closer to the averages that Dems typically get from white voters...

[johnwk]

SEE: Latest Poll Shows Women's Vote Will Deliver Obama Victory


A new USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday reveals female voters in critical swing states favor Barack Obama over Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s presidential election by 16 points. At 52% of the electorate, Democrats are enthusiastic that these XX-votes will all but deliver incumbent Obama a second term in office.


It is so sad that America has been destroyed from within because our federal government has been allowed to buy votes with “free stuff”. Unfortunately, our nation’s majority voting block are women and most of them want free stuff and they have sold out our country to get it.


JWK



If we can make 51 percent of America’s population dependent upon an Obama, welfare, food stamp, section 8 housing, college loan check, and now free Obamacare, we can then bribe them for their vote, keep ourselves in power and keep the remaining portion of America’s productive population enslaved to pay the bills ____ Obama’s Marxist game plan, a plan to establish a federal dictatorship and redistribute the incomes which wage earners, business and investors have worked to create.

[cprenegade]

The biggest reason why the president won re-election was stated by quite a few posters here very early on, most notably, soulflower. Romney = Kerry. It's the same reason why George W. Bush won in 2004. Romney never could transform himself into a likeable candidate. He allowed himself to be defined by the Bain argument and the tax returns early on instead of taking the argument to the economy. Bush successfully swiftboated Kerry to win re-election when a majority felt he didn't deserve it. Obama successfully painted Romney as an elite business man and won when exit polls showed that only 4 out of 10 people felt the country is headed in the right direction. Romney never offered enough specifics to turn enough out of the 60% in his direction. Give the president credit. He ran a campaign that kept Romney on the defensive about his past, and by the time Romney could even start to gain any traction, the damage had been done. In the end, Romney closed some of the gap that existed between Obama and McCain, but he lost too much time, and failed to put forth anything that could deter the argument that he was more of the same. The president ran a better campaign, and Romney's mistakes just kept putting enough doubt in the heads of those who were undecided so that they never could bring themselves to trust Romney. The president won, congrats go to him.

[Omaha Beach]

Jimmy Carter appeared weak and indecisive due to the Iranian hostage crisis while there was also a Cold War with the USSR and the Vietnam War humiliation was still current news. The Cold War is history with the youth in their early 20s having been born after the USSR's collapse. Obama whacked the premier terrorist boogeyman of Generation Y's childhood trauma
(9/11). And people as well as the economy have become acculturated to high gas prices. Conservative attempts to frame O as Jimmy Carter II were doomed to failure from the start not merely because the electorate has changed but because the geopolitical situaation has changed.

LOL about Carter being weak and indecisive about Iran. What the hell do you call obama's response to four Americans, in Libya pleading for help for hours until they were murdered and President rock star doing nothing.

[ms maggie]

This is the new narrative of the right--Bill OReilly and Limbaugh spreading it: people are looking for a handout, don't want to fend fir themselves.

Now think about this. Why are a lot of people on food stamps? Well that's pretty easy--high unemployment. The rules haven't changed re eligibility under Obama, just more people not working

More people on Mecicare and Ss. Again, that's the BB bubble coming into retirement. Programs changed? No, just demographics.

But the narrative is that somehow Obama is changing things to give people free stuff.

It must be nice to know you just have to turn on Fox and voilà, you know what you think.

[Contumacious]

Why Did Pres. Obama Win Re-Election...Really ?
?

His determination to pander to the HUGE parasitic faction. His willingness to use the US treasury to BUY votes.

The dumb arses in the media who believe that socialism is a fashion statement.

Those who believe that no matter how wrong Obama was it would be racist to vote against an Afro-American.

Did I leave out anyone?
.

[NCBirdfan]

His determination to pander to the HUGE parasitic faction. His willingness to use the US treasury to BUY votes.

The dumb arses in the media who believe that socialism is a fashion statement.

Those who believe that no matter how wrong Obama was it would be racist to vote against an Afro-American.

Did I leave out anyone?
.

You forgot to mention voters that are just plain stupid for not voting for Romney. Also, all those people who were duped into believing Obama was born in Hawaii. SHOW ME THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE!