Election 2012: What happened to Romney and the GOP?

In the final presidential election poll that matters the most -- Obama 332 electoral votes/Romney 206 electoral votes -- the GOP was rendered a good old fashion shellacking.

President Obama practically ran the table on Romney in the battleground states: winning all but North Carolina.

In the aftermath, pundits, party officials and big wallet folks are asking: What the hell happened?

My two cents...


The GOP Primaries: The gift that kept giving.

The GOP primaries are veritable landmine. Potential presidential nominees must prance, preen and pandered  for right-wing zealots that superficially judge them like an ogling has been celebrity judging a swim suit contest. Candidates, on their audition, trip over each over to prove their conservative street cred: This is exactly why Mr. Romney blurted out that he was severely conservative.

By time the GOP primary candidate is selected, the Democrats are drooling over the treasure trove of campaign ammunition.

That Latino thing

You think it would be wise to not publicly diss and piss off the fastest growing political bloc in our country. Telling them to self-deport, blocking the Dream Act and refusing to have a sane immigration policy just ain't smart politics, man. But, yet again, the Tea Party faithful are not exactly a fountain of wisdom.

The Lazy 47%

Declaring almost half the country as lazy, irresponsible and hopeless moochers in order to pander to rich fat cats -- well that one speaks for itself. Picture: Willard Mitt Thurston Howell III Romney.

No Sista Souljah Moment

Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman called the 2012 presidential campaign discourse "shameful" and pushed presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney to "stand up to" the more conservative wing of his party on Tuesday.

"We have so many issues that need to be discussed by our candidates, and all we're getting is name-calling right now," the Republican said on CNN's "Starting Point."

"I have seen some moments where I thought [Mr. Romney] had a freebie" to stand up to the Republican base, she said, citing the audience at a Republican primary debate booing a gay soldier as one example.

Ms. Whitman, New Jersey's first female governor and a party moderate who also served as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush, said Mr. Romney needs a "Sister Souljah moment" with the GOP base. During the 1992 presidential campaign, then-candidate Bill Clinton pointedly criticized violent lyrics used by black musician Sister Souljah during a speech to a black audience, and was chastised by some black leaders for doing so — though many said the incident ultimately helped him with voters in general election. Since then, the term has come to be applied to politicians who tell a supportive audience something they don't want to hear.

"I think that that's what Mitt Romney needs to really send a message that he is going to be the kind of president he sort of says he's going to be," Ms. Whitman said. source

Yea, if only he had the stones...

Post Script: 

The Hurricane Effect

Evangelical ministers love declaring natural catastrophes as manifestations of god's wrath because of the collective heathen behavior of certain Americans. In this light, does it not seem more than happenstance that Hurricane Issac ruined the GOP convention and Hurricane Sandy ruined Mittmentum?

Just asking...