But why did Obama win in the end? Was it Obama's campaign that was more sophisticated? Was it Romney who just failed to gel with the voters? Were people nervous of changing horses mid-race during the economic recession?
What do you think?
Monday, 12 November 2012
Why did Obama win?
But why did Obama win in the end? Was it Obama's campaign that was more sophisticated? Was it Romney who just failed to gel with the voters? Were people nervous of changing horses mid-race during the economic recession?
What do you think?
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Romney's campaign alienated the people whose votes have decided this election. His comparatively tough social conservative stance on immigration pushed away immigrant voters (such as Hispanics and African Americans) and their supporters. Also, the untimely comments of Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock regarding abortion may have confirmed to undecided female voters that the GOP continues to favour policies that are not appealing to women - a large proportion of the electorate. Obama won because Romney forgot that to win the election he needed to win over liberal middle America.
ReplyDeleteObama's encouragement for the DREAM act which would grant a path in citizenship for young immigrants who enlisted in the armed forces or attended college. This have Obama an advantage as he managed to win 69% of the Hispanic vote which was higher than his 2008 election. Romney said that he agreed to residency of immigrants but not citizenship, he had to appeal to the right-wing Republicans so he had to tighten his immigration stance which then led to the drop of Hispanic voters.
ReplyDeleteRomney's tough immigration stance which made him so popular in the Republican primaries didn't go down well with the socially liberal electorate and alienated Hispanics who made up 10% of the electorate. In contrast, Obama passed an executive order to stop the deportation of illegal immigrant minors and announced his support for the DREAM act. Obama and Biden also managed to gain the support of the majority of the African American vote and a higher percentage of votes from those under 30, than in 2008.
ReplyDeleteI agree with SJ: The DREAM act definitely encourage the hispanic voters so I am going to give a different reason as to why I think Obama won.
ReplyDeleteObama and Biden simply appeared to be the better pair for the job. Not only do they reach out to the middle class, especially with their Middle Class Task Force initiative but they were men with a clear vision for 'change.'
Romney however, appeared to be unclear and inconsistent with his policy ideas (probably because he was trying to reach out to the middle and right wing of the Republican party) and Santorum very clear about his far right policies. This might put Americans off of Romney as he appeared to be weak compared to Santorum and unclear of what he believed in.
Furthermore, Americans think about whether they could see the VP as President if the President dies (because it has happened before) and I think the majority of Americans would prefer to see Biden as President, instead of Santorum because of his extensive knowledge in Foreign Affairs and his overall experience in politics.
Obama appealed to a much wider range of people, and Romney was a weak republican candidate who alienated voters who were on the middle ground. Obama tried to appeal to the widest range of people and be more clear and honest with his policies whereas Romney was often called a 'false' candidate and there was much confusion over his policies. Obama is a much less opinionated and appealing character and had set policies and ideas for the presidency, Romney had mistake after mistake often criticsing and alienating voters such as women and seemed unclear and confused about the path in which he would take the presidency. Romney also fits into the class stereotype many middle class and middle ground (party wise) Americans could dislike- very rich and strongly religious, traditional and conservative views. He appears to be very out of touch with the middle class and normal people, whereas Obama appears to be very genuine and down to earth- 'one of them'. Therefore Obama ended up winning the majority over Romney because he was the better candidate and managed to win over the middle ground which could have otherwise gone to Republicans had they had a better candidate than Romney.
ReplyDeleteObama won the American presidential election because he appealed to a wider group of people, but also because of costly gaffs that were made within the Republican party. For example, Todd Akens comment on women and abortion, helped to swing a lot of undecided female voters (a group of voters the Republicans normally lose anyway) towards Obama. Also, the Obama election campaign was much better than Romneys. The Obama campaign gained the attention of many American voters through the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook,showing that he was maybe more 'in touch with the people'.This also helped him to gain donations for his election campaign.
ReplyDeleteRomney lost Ohio, and whichever way Ohio goes, the nation goes with it!
Obama won the election because of Romney's weaknesses, not his own strengths. Without the faults and gaffes of Romney, and his alienation of the crucial Hispanic vote, Obama would not have won. Obama has done little to enthuse the majority of America and therefore has not got much to show as proof that he's done a great job. However, compared to Romney, he appeared as the best of a bad bunch.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama's ability to appeal to Hispanic voters was key in winning him the election. More Latino voters than ever before turned out at this election, which made the 75% of voters that voted for Obama even more significant. Additionally, Obama made more efficient use of the media and used social media to interact and connect with less politically minded members of the electorate.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to remember that with regards to the National Popular Vote, Obama actually won quite closely. With only a couple of percentage points separating them, it cannot be considered a terrible defeat for Romney. However, since it was a relatively large margin of Electoral College votes, there are some clear factors to consider. One of the most important, in my opinion, is that the Republican Party cannot appeal to some of the largest voter groups with its current policies. Ethnic minorities in the USA may not have been one hundred per cent clear on Obama's policies on immigration, but they were terrified by Romney's. Furthermore, the Republican party struggles to appeal to women, with many of its members being against contraception, abortion and even suggesting the impossibility of pregnancy through rape. The Republican Party also has not done enough to appeal to young people. However, despite its ideological failings, Obama had not delivered on many of his 2008 policies. In fact, some argued that in his 4 years he had actually achieved very little. Therefore, I think that if the Republican Party had put forward a different candidate, they could have had a decent chance in winning. Mitt Romney had a relatively unimpressive personality compared to Obama's impressive oratory skills. He was unclear on important policies and his religion of mormonism was questionable to most. His chances were further lowered by his hard-line conservative vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
ReplyDeleteI believe Obama won due to a mixture of him doing well, being connectable, use of social media and luck (eg. superstorm sandy just before the election enabled him to look presidential and in charge). Key reason people voted for him was because 'he understands people like me' and that connection with the electorate was something Romney could never really garner. A more credible Rep. candidate with a better VP (Ryan was relatively unknown and ineffective - should have chosen a woman/hispanic) could have challenged Obama more, especially with the mistakes Romney made (foreign tour, lack of clarity on policy, previously advocating a similar healthcare system to Obamacare when governor). Ultimately although the economy was doing badly and the electorate weren't particularly happy with how things were going (wrong track perception), the people suffering most would have been no better with Romney as president.
ReplyDeleteThere were both “push” and “pull” factors in Obama’s victory. Obama’s strengths would have paled if they hadn’t been thrown into such stark relief by Romney’s weaknesses.
ReplyDeleteObama’s record on the economy spoke for itself, and it was surprising that it didn’t win him more votes. He rescued the collapsing auto industry, which provides over 10% of jobs in some states. Unemployment had just dropped below 8% for the first time since the recession began, and America had just seen 32 consecutive months of private sector job growth. However, up until the last minute it still seemed that this might not be enough.
The biggest problem Romney faced was the loss of female voters. Women made up 53% of the turnout this year. Todd Akin’s comment about “legitimate rape”, Paul Ryan’s anti-contraception views and Richard Mourdock’s idea that rape is something “God intended to happen” ensured that Romney lost the female vote by a significant 11% margin.
Romney was crippled by having to pander to the extreme right in order to win the Republican nomination. A man who could have reconciled the Republicans to the centre ground with his liberal (for a Republican) voting record instead came across (not helped by the liberal media) as anti-women, anti-immigration and anti-poor people. In a country in which white, middle class males are a dwindling demographic, catering to their interests was necessary to become the nominee but toxic to the rest of Romney’s presidential campaign. In short, alienating 47% of the electorate is not the way to win an election.