Mitt Romney insider details what went wrong during 2012 presidential campaign

As Jack said to Jill as they were coming down the hill, "This is beyond the pail"!

Sorry folks, but the horse has run right through the barn door. It is much too late for Republicans or any other conservative party to get a majority of the votes in a presidential election. Votes have been bought and paid for by you and me and all taxpayers through all of the various "entitlements". Food stamps, "disability", Social Security payments to those who have never put a dime into the program, and the list goes on and on! "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what THIS country can do for you"!

One hundred fifty posts clearly indicated DN struck a nerve by publishing this article.The responses are actually one of the interesting parts of this story. It is typical for liberals, progressives to outnumber conservatives in postings when heartfelt politics are concerned.It happened here where perhaps 50 liberals from SLC and Ogden and of course blue states like Calif,Md,Wa all contribute.It skews things to a false perception because I believe twice as many people have conservative tendencies than liberal in Utah.In the liberal state I recently lived in it was usually 10-1 liberals outnumbering conservatives in articles like this.Two accurate posts impressed me one was hlrust from Lake Oswago Or, who nailed what a Romney presidency would be and Kosimov who described a low information voter. This has been a fun and interesting experience.

It doesn't take an "insider" to tell you what went wrong.
The hardworking everyday people who live humbly couldn't relate to him and his phoniness.
PLUS...the cameras caught him cheating---bringing notes in his pocket-NOT ALLOWED--at the first debate with our esteemed President Obama.

@ Maple Don

The simple math is this: with current party membership numbers, getting 100% of the Republican vote cannot elect a president.

A nominee needs to not only get all of the Republican vote but a disproportionate number of the Independent vote (and some conservative Democrats) as well. That's the description of a Republican presidential candidate that can get elected.

Debatable whether Huntsman fit that bill, but you'd be hard pressed to provide any objective evidence that he was less capable of doing so than the nominee. Republicans would have voted for Huntsman if he were the nominee (they're not going to vote for the President), Independents and conservative Democrats may well have found Huntsman a better alternative than the President, he was certainly viewed as more of a centrist than the nominee.

I could've lived with a MA Gov Romney and a Democratic Congress. But a Tea Party and far-right-appeasing Romney with any Congress would've been a disaster.

It is unclear which Romney we would've had.

Who is the real Romney?

This Romney?

"All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, "

This Romney?

" "Corporations are people, my friend ... of course they are."

This Romney?

"middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less."

This Romney?

"I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much." —Mitt Romney, who earned $374,000 in speaking fees in one year according to according to his personal financial disclosure

This Romney?

"I'll tell you what, ten-thousand bucks? $10,000 bet?"

I also thought it revealing that he "couldn't" remember pinning down a classmate and cutting off his hair, despite other classmates recalling it.

@Gildas... Do you really think that Christ through Malachi was telling us that we should support a Government that arbitrarily takes money from us for the Entitlement Programs they choose???
(i.e. Planned Parenthood? funded abortions? "Green Projects"? Environmental Prohibitions? mandated rights for people who have chosen a gay lifestyle?) That is the most liberal interpretaion of Malachi that I have ever heard of and certainly not one I suscribe to...

What liberal interpretation? I quoted the scripture with no comment; I do not support the causes you attribute to me. The scripture still stands unless you would like to excise it from your personal copy of the Bible.

Buffalo Burt, a thoughtful contributor, had asked the question I quoted. Malachi's scripture shows that the Lord cares about things like adequate wages, widows and orphans, a whole lot more, it seems to me, than either of our presidential choices.

@Truth Whisperer

Both sides accuse the other guy for being disrespectful. So either one side is lying or both sides are just whining.

It is what it is, baby. And the milk has been spilled for a long time...

But I didn't cry for Mitt when he lost because I wasn't a personal fan. I did cry for America's future and the huge debt sink-hole our kids inherited. I wanted Mitt the Business Man ruling as CEO. BHO proved he's not a uniter on any issue, pathetic and scary.

So let's suck it up, pretend to be progressive libs, and take back our republic before Hill R-Clinton cleans out the rest of the account. We can learn from Mitt's mistakes.

The idea that President Obama won by doling out entitlements to the masses strikes me as a little insulting.

As a data point, I'm very lucky to make a very good income, of which about 40% goes to taxes. My reasons for not voting for Romney had nothing to do with doles or finances. I just didn't like his policies and plans as he articulated them. I know many people who pay a lot of money to support the government and its programs who made the same choice.

Now whether or not I made a bad choice, we'll never know. But my reasons for casting my vote the way I did were not selfish, rather they were patriotic even against my own economic interests.

@ pbennettp:

How much "integrity" does it take to run two wars "off-budget" and implement torture (waterboarding) or turn indibiduals over to other goverments who do far worse? How is that better "values"?

Also, Bush left a huge economic crisis at Obama's feet in 2008.

I am no Obama fan, but let's stick to truth and not Fox News talking points....

I am LDS not by birth but by an adult choice. I know what this church teaches. Mitt Romney is a good example of a man striving to become like Christ. I realize that is not the whole criteria for becoming President of the United States but it certainly is important to have a President who has integrity and the best interest of our country at heart. Good LDS people have integrity. Those who bash the LDS Church simply do not know what it takes to be a devoted follower. That said, Mitt Romney has other qualifications unmatched by our present leader. I have followed his career in politics as well as his accomplishment with the Olympics. He is successful at what he does and has all the experience we needed in a leader. What we have in office today is a man of no qualified experience who is taking us down a path of destruction. And this is not because of his color. There are many people of his color more qualified to run our nation than he is. Too bad we let the good man get away.

There is absolutely no question in my mind that Mitt Romney would have made a much better president that President Obama has been and is proving to be. Romney would have found ways to responsibly adjust health care plans in a way that would reduce costs, he would have established a much more level-headed and bi-partisan atmosphere in Washington, he would have quickly established a smart policy in the middle east which would have led the army and secularists in Egypt to embrace the US instead of joining the Muslim Brotherhood in hating us. He would have done all this simply because his fundamental approach to problem solving is to address the basics head-on and leave out useless slandering against the opposition. Someday the history books will acknowledge that he is one of the most responsible "Also-rans" to lose in American presidential elections.

One major mistake made by the Republicans in all 2012 races was their early messages were to Republicans only. The biggest flux on the political scene is the rise of the independent registered voters, those who are not allied with any party.

The Republicans missed a grand opportunity by trying to get independents to become Republicans rather than sell their message and get the vote. In Arizona the independent voters are the 2nd largest voting bloc statewide. A couple of states they are the largest.

The Obama machine saw Mitt as the probable candidate and attacked him early. At that point the GOP should have seen the light and began to swing that way as well. The infighting by the Republicans did a lot to damage the win.

I made several comments online to the Romney camp about a greater independent focus as they are close to the middle majority, but to no avail. I guess I wasn't a strong enough political guru to have any weight for my words.

I just hope this message will have some value in the next efforts by as good a candidate as Mitt was.

I have seen so many comments saying what a great president Mitt Romney would have made and what a horrible job Obama is doing as president. I'm wondering if any of these opinions have to do with his race.

Jesus did say, "How long will ye supposed that the Lord will suffer you to be led by foolish & blind guides? How long will ye choose darkness rather than light? Behold the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity." Helaman 13:29,30

@crunchem - I'm a Romney fan, convinced he would've been a terrific president, uniquely qualified to handle specific challenges our nation currently faces. I think those who voted against him for being out of touch, elitist, greedy, uncaring, and deceptive are either those with a vested interest in his defeat, or extremely gullible to media influences, because Obama is all of those things on steroids, except he probably does care. He just thinks establishing a nanny state is the way to help.

But, that quote from Romney was a devastating self-inflicted blow, and quite inaccurate. I chalk it up to political pandering, and I think it's inconsistent with his life. It's probably accurate for about 25% of the electorate, just like there's probably 25% who would never vote for a Democrat. Many people accept welfare to use it appropriately as a temporary measure through a tough time. Romney could have won many of those people. The growing number of those willing to accept welfare as a lifestyle choice is certainly a future problem for the GOP, but that type of comment only confirms to many the stereotype that Democrats and media relentlessly push about Republicans.

Romney lost because people could not trust him and he could not relate to the average person. As an LDS person I could not vote for him because he did not appear to hold up basic standards of the church such as honesty. To me it was an embarrassment to have him representing us to the world in such a way. None of us are perfect, me least of all, but I did not want him being held up as what a faithful member of the church is like.
You may not feel like you can trust Obama but he does not stand as a representative member of the church either.
Romney is making moves that seem to indicate he is planning on running again for 2016. I am not happy to see that but it is one reason that he is keeping his name in the news. He cant afford to be forgotten as much as some of us would like that to occur. Not looking forward to another three years of explaining to all my nonLDS friends that no not all LDS people are like Romney. :(

He did not break from the radical right and pandered to the Hannity extremists.

@Pac_man... Baloney... If anything Romney was "OVER Respectful" of the President... He was never condescending and always referred to him as "Mr. President" (something that Clinton refused to do when he was debating with Bush Senior)... Obama was derogatory and demeaning... In addition he had the Moderator jump on his side while discussing an issue... Seems like Democrats can't help themselves, they have to have an unlevel playing field before they declare something fair...

Does this one sound familiar to you??? "We have a Navy now that has Boats that go under water"...?

When the IRS Scrutinizing the Republican party fundraising, story broke, the intelligent ppl realized what a mistake they made, voting for Obama, who also won, because the 59th precent of Pennsylvania, had 100% Obama votes. That's voter fraud. It's better to have an honest president, & if the democrats are not sorry yet, they will be when they have to depend on Obama Care, when Congress didn't think it was good enough for themselves. And large corperations, choose to pay the penalty, instead of medical.

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.
My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

There is ZERO error in this quote. Too many people got pi$$ed at being called out, that's all.

This country must/will suffer much pain, before it once again place honest leaders into office.

Amazing how people can find fault with Romney for not winning, and not Obama.

It was all the "liberal media's" fault.

"Mitt was the one that was offering hope for the future, in my opinion. Obama was offering programs. And programs won.” - Spencer Zwick

That was a major issue with the Romney campaign. They promised hope or change from current policies but were scant on providing tangible solutions. Also, lets not forgot Mr. Romney's 47 percent statement, that was the beginning of the demise of his presidential campaign.

@Oh Nanny,

It's important for everyone to embrace the truth... The Truth is that Jeep will be built in China... The Head of operations for Jeep said so... Here's a quote for you from the October 12, 2012 issue of the South China Morning Post (Business Section)...

"Fiat, majority owner of the Chrysler Group, plans to start making Jeeps in China again and might eventually make all of its models in the country, according to the head of both carmakers' operations in the region"... Nuff Said.

As for the 47%... Why don't you deal with the actual quote which was delivered in a small meeting with Republican Donors in FL and Recorded by a typical no ethics Democrat?? It's in the very first comment on this article from "Most Truthful and Patriotic"... It's pretty clear what he said and it's the truth...

Now let's talk about Benghazi? Or how about Fast and Furious and Executive Priviledge? Or how about "No new Taxes"??? or "a Transparent Administration"? What is your explanation for those lies?

You, yourself, would benefit from listening to the Truth instead of old and trite Leftest Lies.

Mitt didn't have a chance really in the election - he couldn't even motivate the GOP electorate to come out and vote. More than 2 million registered GOP voters stayed home. That alone would have won the election for the GOP. To win an election it really doesn't matter if you win the debates or if you have the experience or if you would make the best president. What really matters is the perception people have of you...true or false ...and how successful yout campaign managers are in painting that perception. The majority of people who vote now days are lazy low information people who are drawn more to the superficial stuff and that is what team Obama focused on.Team Obama based their entire campaign on lies and misinformation knowing full well most voters wouldn't take the time to fact check ...and it worked. So if you are to learn anything from the 2012 election it is to dumb down your campaign - taylor it to the low information crowd - create a narrative of your candidate and paint him/her as the champion of the people. I don't think the GOP can ever win a national election.

@Nanook - that's your best about Romney's alleged lies? The "lies" you reference about Romney are not only matters of slanted opinion, but so utterly insignificant compared to Obama's incessant whoppers. As many have pointed out, the media then harped endlessly on Romney's so-called inaccuracies, and helped Obama cover his whoppers. The entire Benghazi fiasco is such a disgusting web of lies, incompetence, and political cynicism that it would have singularly been Obama's downfall had the press done their job instead of running cover for him. Not to mention Fast and Furious, lies about Obamacare (this won't add a dime to the deficit, no one will lose their preferred health carrier, health care premiums will decrease, etc.), and silly deceptive slogans for the highly gullible (war on women, the poor, Hispanics, gays, etc.).

The simple fact is Democrats and the media have an entrenched philosophy of giving handouts instead of hand-ups, so any Republican with a hand-up philosophy is endlessly demonized by the media.

Give me a huge break about the dishonesty. That so many people are so gullible will be the downfall of our once-proud nation.

@pbennettp Romney was disrespectful as well. It went both ways. Romney had a penchant for overreaching and that was evident in the debates.

@pbennetp: Google the Daily Kos article "YES!! Once Again--All of Romney's lies in one place: Updated!" Read it and weep. Don't forget the scare ad they ran saying that Jeep was going to move jobs from Ohio to China when they were actually EXPANDING their Ohio plant.

As for the 47% who pay no federal income tax, many paid Social Security and other payroll taxes. They're mostly the working poor (people who HAVE a job and ARE taking personal responsibility), seniors (who've already paid their fair share of taxes), and other low-income families ("A family of four claiming only the standard deduction and personal exemptions pays no federal income tax on its first $27,000 of income"). Google the USA Today article "Who are the 47% in Romney's remarks?"

As for Romney now, when Washington Post reporter Dan Balz asked "When you said there are 47% who won't take personal responsibility -" but Romney interrupted Balz before he could finish. "Actually, I didn't say that." He did say that. Google the NY Daily News article "Mitt Romney denies 47% remark to Washington Post reporter". Read the transcript. Stop believing lies. Email robert at robertslaven dot ca for links.

I would like to see voters in Mia Love's district vote her into to office and send Mr. Matheson packing...

Continued...

@Milt... I have done plenty of research on the debt issue... Bottom Line is Bush, less than $5T with 2 wars in 8 years... Obama nearly $8T in 5 years with one war wound down and the other winding down. Bush accomplishments... Recovery from a bad Recession that he inherited, better values, rebuilt a decemated Military and kept us safe, and gave us great conservative Justices on the Supreme Court. Bush was 5X the President compared to Obama.

@Iman... How a divided country validates to you that Obama is better defies reasoning.

@Gildas... Do you really think that Christ through Malachi was telling us that we should support a Government that arbitrarily takes money from us for the Entitlement Programs they choose???
(i.e. Planned Parenthood? funded abortions? "Green Projects"? Environmental Prohibitions? mandated rights for people who have chosen a gay lifestyle?) That is the most liberal interpretaion of Malachi that I have ever heard of and certainly not one I suscribe to...

@milner and others like milner... The Election was in fact last November but for many of us, it was the worst decision ever made by an Electorate with far reaching impact into our future.

So this is a little off topic, but did anyone else laugh at the fact that the photos accompanying the article are just various "glam" shot poses of this Spencer Zwick dude? He and/or the Des News must think he is a pretty handsome guy.

More on topic, I voted for Romney and was disappointed, but not surprised, to see him lose. I think that he surrounded himself with inept advisors. He was running his own machine and not taking advantage of any national talent that could have helped. His internal polling was greatly mistaken. I remember on election night the commentators were in awe that he had spent extra time campaigning in states where he lost by a lot and relatively ignored some states where he barely lost. Had he had better internal help, he could have identified better places to put his resources. Also, and I think the article points this out, he let others define him. Most people's vision of Mitt was that fed to them by Obama or GOP opponents. Oh well. Live and learn.

One other reason -- the damaging effects of some of the talk show gurus such as Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, and Mark Levin.

Limbaugh in particular trashed Romney during the Primaries -- even though he kept claiming he was not being partisan to one candidate or the other. Limbaugh continually portrayed Romney as the "establishment candidate" and as a "dry-ball moderate". He falsely claimed that "Romney aides" had been dispatched to help with the hated ObamaCare, using this to bash Romney with an issue that was mis-characterized by Limbaugh, Ingraham, et al. from the start. Limbaugh wanted a far Right flamethrower to stick it in the eye of Democrats -- but portrayed Romney as a sort of Obama Lite middle-of-the-roader.

NOW, Limbaugh is quick to blame the Republican candidate for not winning over the BASE Republican voters. As if he had nothing to do with it.

I contend Romney lost for a lost of little reasons, many of which are mentioned by Zwick and the commenters here.

Also, don't forget the importance of BAD POLLING. Remember how commentators like Dick Morris kept padding the poll numbers in Romney's favor? Many pundits were doing this by telling us and themselves that the TURNOUT MODELS were wrong and that no way were people going to turn out like the split was in 2008. Thy used this rhetoric so often that most Romney supporters, including ROMNEY HIMSELF, believed up until the last votes were counted that he would win Florida and some other close states.

Thinking you actually had a lead would affect your strategy. I think it was what led to Romney not really going on the offensive during the last debate on foreign policy. Had Romney known he was slightly trailing or that it was much closer in Florida and a few other states, he would have been more aggressive.

So many comments needing a response and so few words available to make them...

@buffburt...You want to talk about LDS style beliefs and what matches and what doesn't? Try these on partial birth Abortion? Gay marriage? King Noah Type Taxation? No Prayers in the classroom? Etc., Etc. Where is your man Obama on those things?

@Mattrick78... Never, in any debate in my lifetime was a President so badly beaten than when Romney mopped the floor with Obama in Debate #1... Never was a President more disrespectful of a candidate than Obama was of Romney in debate #3.

@nannyofthenorth... First of all 47% of citizens receiving some form of benefit from Taxpayers and hopelessly tied to Santa Obama is accurate... Learn to deal with the truth...secondly, your comment on Romney/Ryan lies is laughable... Maybe you can tell us what those were, cuz I think that they were pretty accurate...Obama was and is the King of Lies (i.e. Benghazi, Transparent Administration, Fast and Furious, Closing Guantanamo, No new taxes, should I stop cuz there are more?

To be continued...

Obama was not re-elected because Romney did not hit back hard enough or the press was gunning for Romney.

If the GOP wants encourage an extreme right wing platform in the GOP primary up until the presidential primary they will keep losing.

If I remember write the election was last November, Romney lost, get over it!

Do you really think Jesus is coming back to stick it to the poor and the powerless?
QUOTE

I liked this question of "Buffalo Burt". Malachi answered it in this way:

I will be a swift witness against:

sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers,

those that oppress the hireling in his wages,
the widow, and the fatherless,

and that turn aside the stranger from his right,
and fear not me.

(Malachi 3: 5-6)

You can argue this back and forth but it is obvious that the better man was not elected. Has nothing to do with Religion. Our country would have been better off with Romney. Perfect no but better yes. Maybe some of the free loaders might have been asked to actually work for some of the things they get. I do not believe Obama is a bad man but I do not think he is the best man. There is something about him that is not good.

That so many commenters here feel that Mr. Romney would have been a better president than Mr. Obama and that so many commenters here feel that Mr. Obama's administration is destroying America validates to me that the right man was chosen for POTUS in the last election.

To pbennettp of Neotsu, OR

I invite you to do some research. When it comes to expensive fiscal policies that are ruining our country it is BUSH/CHENEY that is FAR MORE responsible for massive UNDFUNDED expenses than Obama is!! Shall I list a few? Unfunded Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. Unfunded war in Afghanistan, Unfunded war in Iraq, Unfunded Bush tax cut for the wealthy.

Look up this article from Bruce Bartlett who served in the Reagan and GHW Bush administrations about what exactly Bush/Cheney did. Search for New York Times and the article titled "The Fiscal Legacy of George W. Bush" If you don't like Obama, that is one thing, you may have various reasons. BUT the issue of fiscal recklessness rests primarily on the Bush administration and the policies that passed in that timeframe. Obama has NOT grown government at all relative to what Bush did. Bush is one of the worst presidents ever and the history books will show it. Try looking up the rankings of presidents in Wikipedia

Romney should have gone on the attack a lot more than he did. Romney had a lot of campaign material given to him on a silver platter by Obama which he did not use.

A good quote to use from Obama would have been "under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket". Everyone has to pay for electricity, so this would have angered even people on welfare.

There were two big problems with the Romney campaign. First, it was painfully obvious that Romney had no idea how to connect with voters who weren't rich or at least upper-class, and had no idea of the realities of their lives (as demonstrated by his "47%" comment; so many of those 47% are seniors, veterans, and college students, who aren't in it for a handout, but who legitimately don't make enough income to pay income tax). Second, the Romney/Ryan campaign was filled with lies. Yes, every campaign is going to stretch truth in many ways. But the Romney/Ryan campaign was full of more outright lies, falsehoods, and half-truths than any other campaign I've seen in 40 years. I was appalled; I had hoped for so much better from the first serious LDS contender for the presidency. Instead, the campaign made Obama look like a paragon of credibility, over and over again. If the GOP wants to get back into the White House, they need to embrace reality about science, climate change, and the fact that "trickle-down economics" is a disaster for the American worker.

@ulvegaard I agree that the moderator overstepped her responsibility to try and fact check the rhetoric. That was up to Obama and Romney to figure out. Debates are not about facts (sadly) but instead about the ability to convince and persuade.

However, if you think that the media stacked the debates against Romney that might be true but there were plenty of instances during the debates when Romney put his foot in his mouth.

@DSB "I would wager he demonstrated far far more compassion..."

A $10,000 wager, maybe? That's another Romney mistake.

You must know Obama pretty well then too to come to the conclusion that "it's a joke to make the same comparison to Obama."

If I understand your criticism it's that only people who know Mitt personally can judge whether he's a good man. Even though I agree that actions speak louder than words, I'm not arguing whether he's a good man, I'm saying I think people who hold LDS values should expect more than they are getting from their politicians who claim to hold the same values; and not just exclusively on Gay issues. Orrin Hatch made the same 47% comment on the Senate floor on July 6, 2011.

Do you really think Jesus is coming back to stick it to the poor and the powerless? I think he's more likely to come down on those in power who obstruct relief etc. Too often the right wing pushes policies that favor those who least need any more favors.

If my comments were a false portrayal of a good man, please let me know specifically what was false.

Obama is the worst President this country has ever had or ever will have... Bar none...

His re-election was not only worst single occurance in mine and my wife's 61 years of life, Historians will show it to be the worst day in our children's and their children's lives as well, for they will be the ones left holding the tab for the irresponsible Spending and irresponsible Fiscal Policies that this Administration has put on their generations...

If it were only possible to make his blind followers experience the pain that he is putting on the backs of future Generations Romney would not have only won, he would have won in a landslide...

Stand-up Responsibility and Fiscal Maturity are not the long-suits of the Generation calling the shots today... Our Parents and our Grand Parents were members of the "Greatest Generation"... Our Generation will go down as possibly "Weakest" or "Worst Generation"... It kind of makes all you Liberals all warm inside, doesn't it?

I don't think Romney was a deer in the headlights when facing Obama, I think that debates were stacked against him. When he tried to make the point regarding the President's initial public statement that it was a video inspired riot and Obama insisted that he used the word Terrorist, the lady in charge of the debate kept defending the president with statements that were not factual, but being in control of the debate could close Romney down.

The media was in Obama's pocket as well. Perhaps Romney made mistakes with his campaign, but each mistake was endlessly magnified by a one sided media campaign and the power of an incumbent president with the ability to make up new rules.

Romney lost because President Obama is a better candidate.

Perhaps Mitt failed because his campaign did not actually reflect his Moromon religion.

Those who “do not pay income tax” (Mitt’s apparent problem with the despised “47%”) included a great many Social Security recipients who funded, actually over funded, that program. Was Mitt’s a just or saintly evaluation of retirees?

The income tax that apparently Mitt thought we should all pay is a predatory tax once rejected by conservatives. It is reminiscent of King Noah’s depredations.

All the Mormon prophets have excoriated war and called it murder. Joseph Fielding Smith prayed that America would be kept out of WW1 and Heber J Grant had the same opinion regarding WW2. Yet Mitt wanted to increase military personnel by a fifth and wage relentless war in the Middle East, unconstitutional, undeclared wars.

Mormons are supposed to uphold the Constitution;yet Mitt never mentioned it. Then there was the inconvenient Mr Paul whose love and support of the Constitution I would have loved to have seen in Mitt but looked in vain, whose hatred of war and bloodshed put Mitt's jingoism into deserved shadow, and brought him a shameful, and ill-expressed opposition within the official Republican party.

It is time to get real. Washington DC and its bloated bureaucracy where lifetime government employees are perhaps 80-90% Democrat voters. They are never going to fix the problem because doing so would impact their lives. They want and need big government and a Democrat President. Visit places like Germantown,Md or Alexandria,Va or Silver Springs,Md talk to these people the majority will be party line Democrats. Yes they may be honest but they are motivated by big government.Northern Virginia has high real estate prices because pork,greed, excess is available to the lobbyist, the influence peddler. Northern Virginia suburbs have changed a red state to a swing state.The source of the problem is DC. It desperstely needs to go on a diet.We need accountability from our public servants, all of them.

Just finished re-read all 101 comments thus far --

Gotta love it!

The best comments [that made me LOL] are those Republicans who insist that Romney lost because he wasn't Conservative enough, too moderate, and was too much like Pres. Obama.

We can thank the Archie Bunkers on the radio --
Rush, Sean, and Glenn for destroying whatever was left of the once great GOP.

BTW - Hillary is a shoe-in already.

Mitt Romney is a money changer. They are as unpopular today as they were in Biblical times.

"I believe that all of this could be solved if this Country was ran a little more like a Business"

With respect, I believe that's exactly what we don't want or need.

The government is not a business. It is not motivated by profit.

One of the primary roles of government is to fulfill functions that are not profitable-- but are necessary. Government takes on the functions that need to be done-- but which business isn't about to tackle since they are not profitable.

A President who doesn't get that is going to exacerbate the problems we already have.

With guys like Zwick running Republican campaigns, the Democrats will always win. Until the Republicons learn to connect with real people instead of legal entities (corporations), the Democrats will keep creaming the 'cons.

As a poster who has actually participated in state level elections and understand tactics. The 2012 election takes the cake for the most calculated and dishonest in my lifetime. This applies mostly to Democrats,the Obama campaign and the mainstream newsmedia.Honestly I do not know if Obama was elected in any degree of fairness. This election has to be scrutinized. If the presidents chief counsel was using the IRS and liberal partisan democrats to target and prevent conservatives from participating then we have a serious constitutional crisis and many people should be fired.If in fact the FEC was running interference to prevent the vote that happened in 2010 and the news media was participating we have to get to the bottom of it. There are very serious allegations of collusion and massive intimidation of Tea Party and conservative groups this is not phony as Obama and the mainstream media wants us to believe. It is literally not abiding by the constitutional principles that our coutry was founded on.

Our problem is our Constitution. No matter who gets elected, we pay.

I have to wonder why people like Spencer Zwick make so much money when they know SO little. R lost, according to this character, because "people didn't know the stories about R being a devoted family man, friend, and church member," AND because "voters are more interested in what govt can do for them."

What baloney! Romney lost because everybody could see exactly who he represents: Big money, pure and simple, nothing more.

It's so simple and easy to understand, but people like Zwick will never, apparently, get it.

We live in a country where wealthy people, big business and the military have captured the organs of govt and bent them to their interests. Romney would have made that problem worse. So simple and easy to understand. . .

So tired of the mindset demonstrated on here from the far left segment of SLC and from the Entitlement Crowd in the nearly bankrupt state of California...

There's even a few from places like AZ that sound ridiculous... "Romney wasn't qualified"?... "Be gracious in defeat and don't blame the loss on the Freebee Club"?... "Obama will go down as one of the greatest Presidents in America"?... Are you kidding?

I believe that all of this could be solved if this Country was ran a little more like a Business... and less like a Donation Distribution Depot...

In Business you have to be a Share Holder to Vote (meaning you have to buy or own stock to have a voice)... In America, one should be a Paying Taxpayer to vote (if you don't pay taxes or at least file returns, you shouldn't be able to decide America's future, plain and simple)... That would keep the freeloaders from making decisions that Taxpayers have to live with... And it would also keep Government focused on making it easier for Businesses to be successful and creating a friendly environment for REAL JOB GROWTH.

@Counter Intelligence

It is sad that we have to reduce the process of electing a president down to whether or not he supports a boycott of a fast food restaurant.

But you are not the only one, and it is a problem not only confined to one party. The problem with the political system is not the politicians but "the people" who put them there based on trivial, irrelevant, and nonsensical reasoning.

Unless the voting bloc of this country increases with a number of independent, fair-minded, reasonable individuals not easily swayed by the ideological extremes, then heaven help us all.

Everyone votes for the candidate who they feel will best improve their situation. Those who own businesses are going to vote for the guy who will give them tax breaks. Those on welfare will vote for the guy who will continue the welfare. Those who pay taxes will vote for the guy who will lower the amount they pay. I find it odd when people judge others for voting for a candidate whose policies and platforms would directly benefit them when they do exactly the same thing. We truly have become a society of hypocrites.

Romney was obviously the best candidate to thinking people. Romney's problem: He overestimated the intelligence of the average American.

Romney lost because he was too moderate/bland. For example: When Romney was confronted about Chick-fil-a he merely said it was not part of his campaign: alienating conservatives AND liberals who value free speech.

his base stayed home because Romney was too wimpy to fight a blatant bully.

Most people voted on feeling rather than knowing the facts.

Not even Abraham Lincoln, or George Washington would have won.

Our people, are not very educated. The condition of our economy, and quality of our political leaders are proof.

@Buffalo Burt - apparently you know Mitt Romney far better than everyone who knows him personally. I would wager that he demonstrated far, far, more compassion for the less fortunate, as measured by total charitable contributions, percentage of income to charitable contributions, and amount of personal time serving others, than you, and it's a joke to make the same comparison to Obama, who's all talk. Obama's version of caring for the poor is to make sure everyone else does it through taxes. Your comments are a false portrayal of a very good man, and a bad example for Mormons.

Mitt is a victim of his own shifting principles, his foot in mouth disease and his detachment from the average person. I am a conservative and he made me cringe regularly. Too much resemblance to thurston Howell 111

@Moniker: My point is that there is plenty of shame to go around. This juvenile back and forth blame game is a joke. The current system is failing because both sides of the 2 main political parties are only out to gain and maintain power, not for the people's sake, but to retain power, influence, and prosperity for themselves.

By the way, more on topic to this comment thread, I do believe that Mitt was/is out of touch with the average Joe's plight. However, I 100% believe he would have been a good President - better than the current. Interesting how Obama can take all these exotic family vacations and golf outings (costing millions) and no one questions whether he is or isn't out of touch with the working poor.

He had an uphill battle! He had the Dems against him as well as the media. See Candy Crowley as moderator. She starts to argue with Mitt. Turns out she and Obama were wrong, liar on Obama's part. And all the scandals. Thats what the country voted for now they have to deal with the mess.

Now the very constituency that elected Obama will have to pay for their decision. The young with higher insurance premiums. The blacks with their increasingly high unemployment rates....add to that the illegal immigration plan.....taking even more jobs from this ethnic group.

I am thrilled that Mitt Romney lost. He was so wrong for the country. He tried to buy the election and the right man won. Obama is the peoples' president. I love the fact that Obama is president.

@My house was stolen: Economic failure doesn't happen in a vacuum. The Republicans weren't in power long enough to be the sole cause of the 2008 collapse. If you were at all objectively or intellectually honest in your assessment of what caused the collapse, you would know that those from both political camps share the blame. And, if we were all honest, the people as a whole would own up to their contribution. The current prosperity trend is on a negative slope no matter which way the data is sliced. We can keep going on this polarizing notion that any one party has all the answers, or we can come together to hammer out viable solutions. Note that any viable option will require sacrifice and pain from all levels of the socio-economic strata.

Let's not forget the great help Obama got from "conservatives" like Chris Christie and Colin Powell. I think Romney hit the nail on the head when he said it's hard to compete with Santa Claus . . . and I think it may get harder and harder as more and more people gravitate to handouts and government goodies, and we continue to basically ignore little incidentals like the nearly $17,000,000,000,000 official immediate Federal deficit. The same thing basically happened to Rome . . . no border control, devalued currency, importing cheap labor, reliance on the government, trying to police the known world, a spectator society . . . we're just repeating the same process.

@poyman:
"Instead, we reelected Santa."

You gotta promise free stuff to the voter if you wanna get elected in this country. And not just for a few voters. You gotta do it for the masses. Democrats learned that lesson long ago. The Republicans have never learned it. Instead they think Americans should not be looking for handouts but should be out their working for a living. That will never work with a nation full of essentially lazy folk.

And now, for the next person to win the White House they must kowtow to the Hispanic vote. Immigration (illegal and otherwise) over the past decades has resulted in Hispanics becoming an ethnic group with clout. Disconcerting too. It means they can start calling the shots as we have seen in the last presidential election. The countries to our south are Hispanic. Once they detect amnesty is available for free those countries will empty out and we will have hundreds of millions on our doorstep with their collective hands out.

It's not too late to learn Spanish. It'll be needed a few short years.

“I think if people could have seen and understood Mitt Romney the man, he would be the commander in chief today. There’s no doubt in my mind." Mr Zwick.

"I think if Mitt Romney could have seen and understood Mitt Romney the man, he would be the commander in chief today"! Kolob 1

When is Zwick going to admit that he used donor's money to raise money for their new investment scheme (Solamere) starring him and Tagg Romney?

Mitt, and even moreso Jon Huntsman, should not have pursued this campaign. The Republican Party is not a hospitable place for sensible moderates these days, and Mitt came across as inauthentic because he abandoned the moderate to liberal principles he, his father and his mother had embodied for so many years in quite a large body of political campaigns. I hear from a Romney insider that Mitt is more of a pragmatist than an ideologue, but that explanation eventually does not satisfy. The changes were too stark, to jarring, and covered too many important issues.

"Zwick's father, Elder W. Craig Zwick, is a member of the LDS Church's First Quorum of the Seventy." Romney is a "devoted family man, friend and church member" and "(the church) shaped how he raises his kids and his moral values" - if not intentional, leave the impression that Zwick and Romney are saintly and righteous merely because of proximity to the church and that they almost represent the church on the national stage as crusaders for Mormon standards. Rather Romney represented disdain for the poor and an inability to empathize with how underprivileged American's live and what they expect from government. Examples: Romney says go ask your parents for a college loan - most parents are struggling to just support themselves. There is also of course the 47% comment, and defending Limbaugh’s and Trump’s comments. Romney campaign was hypocritical. Zwick says the problem is voters were more interested in what government could do for them. Romney’s tax plan would have cut his own taxes. He pays at most 15% in taxes. Selfishness is not a virtue. He projects his own “sins” on to the poor. He’s a bad example for Mormons.

Does anybody know how many documented cases there have been of voter fraud in the past years? Not many. If the law in a particular state is that ID is not required, ID IS NOT REQUIRED. Go ahead and lobby to change the law if you would like. But misrepresenting the law (as was done in many states) is not right. This is especially so in cases where it was already adjudicated that ID was NOT required.
Furthermore, the efforts to keep "urban" people from voting went far beyond asking for ID. In many states where the polls were already packed, early voting days were eliminated. Steep fines and very strict regulations were implemented that made voter registration drives too risky for people to conduct. If you think this was about trying to crack down on voter fraud, you are really kidding yourself. Do some research because it went WAY beyond that. It wasn't even subtle. It was SHAMELESS.

Worf.... keep telling yourself that....

"Obama chose to emphasize when he would give his many hate speeches during the campaign."

@kosimov.... Can you please give an example of said "hate" speech? I don't recall any more hate speech coming from one camp or another. Disagreeing.... does not make it hate speech.

"...made broad, very distorted and often completely false statements to make Romney look like a man Hitler would fear"

It just isn't too hard to come up with quotes where Romney supporters came right now and claimed Obama and Hitler were one in the same... Is saying Romney's business practices put people out of work... well that is an established fact, just like Romney's claims that he also created jobs. It is quite fair for both men to make these comments... because they are both true.

This seems to be one of those cases where the fans hate their guys opponents much more than the actual opponents hated each other... if at all. It was radio and TV host in their analysis that flamed the rhetoric, for ratings. Shame on the public for buying into this ratings game baiting that was going on.

He lost because Obama received more votes. Why make it complicated, He didn't win because he didn't have enough votes.

Another reason Romney lost.... Paul Ryan. the Romney/Ryan plan would have gutted Social Security and Medicare. Every thinking person could see that. Romney/Ryan & Co. promised to repeal the Patients' Protection and Affordable Care Act; and didn't offer any viable solution to replace it. Wealthy Republican Conservatives still don't understand that it costs too much for working-class middle-income Americans to see a doctor. If Contemporary American Conservatives would understand that and come up with a way to reverse the increase in the cost to see a doctor they would have a larger majority of the vote. About entitlements: they are called entitlements because they've been paid for. When you pay for something you gain title to it and become "entitled" to it. Working-class middle-income Americans pay for entitlement programs through payroll deductions and quarterly remittances. There is no such thing as a "government give-away"! It's our money, and the government is merely a vehicle through which we allow our representatives to administer the programs we as a nation have decided we want.

It's not what Romney did wrong. It's a gullible public.

Personally, and as a member of the LDS Church, too- I think Romney lost because of a certain sense of entitlement that he seemed to exude. Voters thought they would be looked over and left out with him as President. It seems to be the wealthy, greed factor that lost it for him when he was video'd making such negative remarks at a meeting. That sunk his boat. If his staff thought he would have won had voters known him better- why did they not work harder at enhancing his positives? No excuses. Bitter grapes taste especially bad. Be graceful losers- it has been nearly a year, for heaven sake!

"...Deseret News headline, August 10, 2101: "Last Living Voter From 2012 Explains What Went Wrong in Romney Campaign"...".

At the time of this comment 11:30 AM, I have read every comment (71 comments).

My absolute favorite comment is the one above.

BTW...

Which Romney?

While he was governor here in Massachusetts, too many, including me, thought that what he did as Governor was from total self-interest not what was good for the state. He gave us health care, not for the good of the people but to enhance his presidential platform. When a better job opportunity came along and he ditched the state and went for it. He left the state in the hands of his Lt. Governor who was far from an asset. Romney saw himself as President, and so everything, and everyone else was thrown to the side of the road.
He worked so hard to bring healthcare to Massachusetts, saying how good it would be for the state. He now says the same thing would be very bad for the country. There is no way to reconcile this about face. His healthcare plan is working so very well in Massachusetts. Now, how can I trust his words or judgment after that. It was much more than his party of choice, or mistakes in his campaign, that lost him the last presidential vote in Massachusetts. We knew him too well.

Under the republican watch our economy failed and many lost everything. Jobs and homes were lost in the great recession. The problem here for many who had lost their homes and jobs as they fought to keep some assemblance of self respect, Romney comes along spouting more foreclosures and telling the country 47% are getting a free ride. About one third of this state has not been affected by this economy. Romney is certainly in that percentage. Romney spouted with his running mate you will get free stuff if you vote for Obama. Hey Mr.47%; where is my "free stuff"?

It appears that many DN followers continue to forget that Mr. Romney did not want to run for the office of President of the United States.
HIS FAMILY had to talk him into it.
History, psychology, common sense have shown each and every one of us what will happen when someone is talked into something they really do NOT want to do.
Not to mention when that something is very, very difficult......the most difficult job on the planet.

You keep running inside stories on why Romney lost. It is time to leave it alone. He lost and revisiting the whys won't change it.

I have a question for the people here:

It seems to me that for the most part, the things which liberals/progressives bring up against Romney with such vigor and conviction are precisely the things Obama chose to emphasize when he would give his many hate speeches during the campaign. I believe he did that to keep people from examining his record and especially, from examining the events in Libya which were obviously something very important which has been covered up and will probably stay buried.

The various complaints against Romney had some merit, but generally, people mostly seem to merely be recounting things that Obama told them to think when he spoke to them. He didn't seem to feel he should provide evidence to support his claims; he merely made broad, very distorted and often completely false statements to make Romney look like a man Hitler would fear. I believe most of what is being tossed about here was fabricated by Obama's campaign and put on the teleprompter for Obama to read - with style, of course. Am I alone in this belief, or did anyone here notice that?

Republicans have to stop saying that people who voted for Obama wanted freebies or something stupid like that. It will never get the republican party anywhere.

We are in a recession and in times like these government programs get used more but I have never met one person who was living the high life while receiving food stamps, unemployment, etc. They all would of preferred going to work and earning a good living but sometimes bad things happen to good hard working people.

There isn't really a reason to bring them down more than they are.

@moniker lewinsky

'Trying to keep poor, disenfranchised, "urban" people from voting? DESPERATE! Maybe for the next four years, spend time trying to develop better policies instead of trying to figure out how to keep the Democrats from voting.'

Where in the world did you come up with THAT one! Perhaps it was because conservatives tried to do something about the voter fraud the democrats conducted? Such as, many districts where MORE THAN 100% of the registered democrats voted! How can there be more votes than people if there wasn't fraud?

'I will say, though, that if Republicans continue to declare war against women, there will be more of this in the future.'

I seriously doubt there was any war except in the minds of his opponents. It is more that he believes in a tradtional family with men and women having traditional roles. This is not a war against women; it is only something different from your beliefs, so in what has become typical liberal dialog, you exaggarate the concepts and facts.

I am not a Republican, so I can agree that they better make some big changes. I hope another conservative party emerges before it is too late.

Personally,
I LIKE all the Mitt Romney stories the Deseret News runs.

It's like listening to Southern rednecks whine about the Civil War 150 years later.

"The South will rise again!"

It's clear that the Romney supporters are still wailing and gnashing their teeth.

Romney lied over and over, and when called on it, he just repeated the lies again.

I would never trust Romney to be in such a position of power. Ever.

A couple of thoughts from me, a Democrat and supporter of President Obama:

I am sure Gov. Romney is a decent man. So is President Obama. I think one of the biggest reasons that President Obama won was because for four years, the American Right tried to demonize him and turn him into something that no one in his right mind could possibly believe he was (e.g., someone who hated this country, who seeks to destroy it, a "socialist", a liar, an idiot, a criminal, a Muslim, a Kenyan, and so on). Repeating those charges angered many people who still see him as a smart, decent and patriotic American.

Along comes Gov. Romney and, instead of presenting a consistent record as the moderate governor of a northeastern state, he ran as far right as possible ("severely conservative") and many said, "How on earth can he be both?").

Yes, the President's campaign was brilliant. And yes, Governor Romney's was not. But the fundamental problem for the Governor was that President Obama is a pretty decent President, and a sinking economy stopped sinking and began slowly rising about a year after his policies began to kick in.

What went wrong in the 2012 election had little to do with the candidate Romney, and more to do with the GOP. The GOP still does not get it. A party of mostly older white men, with antiquated values, a timid vision of the future, and a paranoid attitude towards the "rest of the nation". The GOP does not look like America and drags it's feet on issues that are destine to become part of the American fabric. Just look at immigration reform now, health care, and other issues. Unfortunately, it has become the party of obstruction, not innovation.

The media danced all over Romney. Nevertheless, you have to look at the reality of the situation. I voted for both J Mac and Willard and would do so again. However, Mark Shields of the PBS News Hour pretty well labeled what happened. It was a matter of "perception". It was seen through the media that Mr. Romney was aloof and isolated and did not have "empathy" for those less fortunate. There were some three million less voters for Romney than McCain to reinforce that belief.

Republicans will never win another Presidential election until they provide the American people a reason to vote for them. Demonizing people may make Rush, Shaun, and Glenn a lot of money, and appeal to the far right, but most Americans find it disttasteful. The 47% comment was an elitist comment that most Americans believe was sincerely how Mr. Romney feels. The Republicans if they ever hope to win again must embrace economic policies that create GOOD jobs for middle class Americans which will require a little lower profit margin for the wealthy. Reagonomics and the idea of trickle down has not worked for anyone but those at the top. It is insulting to say that 47% of Americans want a handout. Yes there are those that do, but that number is much smaller, and some of them vote republican. Look and see how many students at BYU receive some type of government handout (financial aid you don't pay back would be a government handout) Pretty sure most BYU students vote republican.

"“There’s always going to be some percentage — I’m not going to say how many, I’m not going to give a number — but there’s some percentage who want to know what’s in it for me,” Zwick said."

Here is the problem with this...... it is applies to everyone. Be it entitlements, or taxes, or some policy..... everyone votes their own personal agenda. To claim otherwise would be..... well... silly.

It was obvious that Mitt was running against his own record as a moderate, and avoided issues of faith. It is too bad on both accounts. He became hard to vote for by independents because it was very obvious he was not running at Mitt Romney, the moderate Mormon candidate... but some effigy of what his handlers thought would get him votes.

He should have run as Mitt... and the outcome could have been very different.

Ok BYU alum here's why Romney lost and Repubs will continue to lose. Most of America knows that the "free cell phones" is a thirty year old communication program that started with free "calls", and has nothing to do with Obama. Most of America knows illegals don't receive Social Security, food stamps, or welfare. Most of America knows that unemployment is temporary and can't be relied on for more than a very short period. Most of Americans know that a disgraceful number of "working" Americans still don't earn enough to buy shelter, clothes, and food for a family of four so therefore they need help with food to feed their children. Food Stamps primarily feed "working" families. I could go on but you sum it up the best yourself. "Have we become so slothful that we look to government to take care of us? Calling the working poor (who are the vast receivers of government benefits) slothful is not just inaccurate but an insult and a disgrace.

It's frightening to hear Zwick reduce politics to a personality match-off between celebrities. There is as much substance in presidential races as in Bravo's Real Housewives franchise, all slickness, pose, and the intellectual equivalent of repugnant cosmetic surgery. Such is the temper of our times.

Natural politicians win and Mitt isn't a natural. Obama is, G. Bush II was, Clinton was, Reagan was, Kennedy was, etc. Politics has to be as comfortable as your own skin to win that office. You have to be born for it. Mitt was too uncomfortable, too stiff--as was Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Hillary Clinton and Kerry. Good people all--and would probably have been good presidents--but they couldn't win a national campaign. You have to be relaxed, natural, warm and connect with people from the stage to win the Big One and very few people can do that. Mitt probably would have been ok as prez but he couldn't defeat a talented politician like Obama. Obama overcame race, lack of prior experience, a strange name and much more to defeat all the primary candidates including Hillary/Bill and then the GOP candidates backed by huge amounts of power and money. He was a phenomenal campaigner, maybe the best in history. No one has been able to match him (not even Bill Clinton!) Say what you want about Obama's governance but he had the ability to get elected. Mitt, you were out of your league.

I didn't vote for Romney because the more I learned about him, the more he sounded like Obama. Both want to use the power of government to force the rest of us to do what they feel is right. I'm looking for a President who will work to give me my freedom and let me be responsible for what I do with it. Sadly neither party has nominated anyone like that since...well, maybe since Calvin Coolidge.

"the impact of Romney’s... failure to win over voters Zwick said were more interested in what government could offer them."

It's that simplistic "makers vs. takers" view of America, right there, that alienated so many voters.

It's wrong, dumb, and highly offensive. That conservatives still cling to this mean-spirited fantasy and have such contempt for people who disagree with them is the main reason the Republican Party is not going win the White House in 2014, and must rely on voter suppression and gerrymandering to retain relevance in congress.

Look for 2014 to be a Democratic election year, and 2016 to be an even bigger disaster for the GOP.

Katowice,
I see you are typical far left by not even addressing the more than 100% comment and tried To redirect to social security. The facts of the matter is that under this Pres we have more than doubled the national debt, more than doubled the number of people on food stamps and SS is given to those who have not EARNED it. I hope you enjoy your hard earned money going to those who are here illegally. If you think that SS is going to only those who worked for it, you are one of the many who are blinded by Barry.

What went wrong was that Romney was not qualified to be President, but his advisers couldn't tell him that without risking their jobs.

It must be really difficult for people with the self-righteousness gene. They are so sure they were right and never learned to be gracious in defeat. Enjoy the 2016 election folks, I know I will.

Plus, President Obama IS doing a great job and WILL be remembered as one of our greatest President ever.

If anyone here has any doubt about what Obama is doing to America, and why, they ought to find a documentary called "Agenda", and watch it. Obama is really not in charge of the things which are most dangerous to America. I wouldn't want to step into the trap of debating who SHOULD have won the election, because that has always been a mistake; I recall my grandparents telling me many times not to get involved debating politics because it is an impossible game to win. In fact, to quote a "computer" from an old movie: 'the only way to win is not to play'.

Regardless of what we all think about Romney, Obama, the election, etc., we ought to be able to agree on one thing: America is in deep trouble. We are in danger of losing our American culture, that is, the things which have made America great over the years. If that happens, it won't matter who is president. We should unite and solve our problems together, not keep fighting over why one person or another is more popular. How many of us believe we are on the right track now?

Zwick covered some of the bases in the 2012 election. Romneys campaign did an excellent job in fundraising. The primaries were a big expense and distraction and played a role in the perception that he was listening to his more conservative base. Having actually seen the Democrat party in action,their action plan is the end justifies the means. By this logic anything is appropriate to destroy ones opponent, honesty,facts,are not barriers. This was played out by the bartender liberal who illegally and secrety recored the 47% tape. This was shown in the mean spirited and dishonest ads blanketing key swing states. It now appears that liberals likely at the direction of Obama's chief counsel used the IRS and possibly the FEC to target conservative groups to prevent them from helping Romney win in states like Ohio,Florida,Virginia and others.The media revealed itself as being totally partisan, ignoring anything that painted Obama is a negative light, like Benghazi and Fast and Furious. Obama's campaign successfully suppressed Romney's vote and succeeded in getting the Black vote out in record numbers.We have to learn from this election and understand the tactics.

I agree with you Hey Baby. The problem is the way that that each state parses its electoral votes. NO state should have the "winner take all" format. It totally disenfranchises huge groups of voters in states. It basically treats certain voting districts like second-class citizens. Take California for instance. They have 55 electoral votes because they have 53 congressmen (and women) in the House of Representatives that are elected by congressional district and 2 senators in the Senate that are elected by state-wide vote. Not every congressman (and woman) from California is a democrat. Which means that certain congressional districts vote Republican. Now, if the people in those districts are smart enough to individually elect their own leaders without the overwhelming collective controlling them, why shouldn't they be able to do the same thing with the electoral vote that only exists because of their congressional district? The candidate that gets the most votes in a state overall should only receive TWO electoral votes, representing the two Senators from that state that elected by state-wide vote. The rest of the electoral votes should be cast by which candidate gets the most votes in each congressional district.

Obama may not be a great president, but I doubt that Romney would have done any better seeing how he ran his campaign. Romney ran a terrible campaign and a lot of his missteps were due to his gaffe-prone rhetoric from his comments over the London Olympics to the infamous 47% speech. He made John Kerry look tame as he flip flopped over issues from Obamacare to the Dream Act.

You would have made a wonderful President for this great Country of ours. Makes me sick to think of those who stood in your way and never supported you. Like Palin, Santorum, Paul, ect. if they had gone out there and hit the streets and all of those places to make sure that you won this country would be in such a better place right now.

What went wrong? Nothing.

@moniker. "Declare war on women" is certainly a very loaded statement to throw around as a blanket response to what are very complex socio-economic challenges we face as a nation. It is also ironic that the very ones (liberals) who use it as an attack slogan against conservative principles favor policies (or at least lack the back bone to change bad policy) that truly hurt women and families. And why is no one at least a bit suspicious by a voting district that is 100% for a particular candidate? What on earth is wrong with having voters in some way demonstrate that they are citizens and legally able to vote? Whatever disenfranchisement there may be is not a Republican only problem. There's plenty that needs fixing in this country, and no one party is solely to blame. Sadly, the polarization keeping us from getting back on track is only getting worse.

@Henry Drummond from SJ CALIFORNIA... Home of the most liberal politicians in America...

So Romney was a "Flip Flopper"?... A "Candidate with two faces"?...You never knew who he was?...

What a very old, trite, and tired line... Yet it is the first one thrown out by the folks from California who have proven that they don't know what "Fiscal Responsibility" means, or what "Good Family Values" mean... A state with world class capability that will probably soon go bankrupt under the Obama Entitlement Economy...

I'm curious as to what you thought that he was on both sides of the fence about???

Abortion? His position was pretty clear and consistent to me (Didn't support it except in cases of incest, rape, or Mother's Physical Health).

Obamacare vs Romneycare??? One is a State's right the other is not... One mandates capitalism the other one wants to take it away... One the Government runs, the other the Individual runs.

Guns... An individual's right unless we are talking about Bazookas and sub-machine guns.

What else you got??? You like folks in office with the values of Feinstein, Pelosi and Obama? That's what you got.

Obama buying votes by promising free stuff to everyone. Really. How many remember receiving a stimulus check in the mail. Which president was that? Sure wasn't Obama. As a Republican I am sick and tired of all the lame excuses for Romney loosing. And please stop insinuating that the poor all lazy and just want to sit on the couch and collect welfare. As far as free cell phones my understanding is that is mostly local governments doing that.

@Kaotic. Regardless of the wars and associated costs, this economy should be much further along in recovery by now. So many more things than 2 wars hit the economy and put us, and is keeping us, in this mess. And those things weren't primarily Bush caused; there's plenty at fault on both sides of the political aisle. Take the blinders off and stop attributing the current mess to Bush. By the way, Social Security wasn't meant to be an entitlement, but it is becoming such. If those who put into the SS system would have been able to invest those $s in low risk securities, they would have more than enough to retire upon. As it is, the system is broken and many will not receive anything near what they put into it.

@eastcoastcoug

I'm not a Utah guy... I live half the year in Oregon and half the year in Texas and I am still depressed because this Constituency of ours chosiing a guy who had proven he knew nothing about running a country with the World's largest Economy and he still proves it everyday... His stats are horrible and quite frankly that should have been enough for the ADULTS in the room to vote for Romney.

From your comments it's clear to me that you didn't know the Romneys and you especially didn't know MItt, and I'd wager a paycheck that he has never heard of you.

It also appears that you really didn't follow the campaign or the election very close because there is no one in the Primaries, and certainly not Obama that was as detailed as Romney in describing how he would Preside over this country... Alot of that Leadership dealt with dumping Obama programs that are going to financially bring this country to its knees.

I'd love to see an Article on Romney's 2012 run for the Whit House every week... Don't like them? Don't read them.

So eastcoastcoug, since you know the Romneys and what great people they are, you wanted Mitt to tell you what exactly he would do and yet you knew what 0bama was doing to this country?
I guess I don't understand. As someone said he is/was a "boy scout!" He loves this country, he loves the constitution, he loves God & his family (& not necessarily in that order).
If you knew/know him, you know his history about saving companies/giving to the poor/helping people who needed his help (all without touting his own horn) For heaven's sakes, he turned around the Olympics and left it with a surplus!
And I'm happy to hear about him and his family any time the des news wants to write a story.
BTW, the home the 0bama's are staying in in Hawaii is owned by a millionaire who has a company like the one Romney had. Hear any nasty stories about him? No he's an 0 supporter!

I didn't vote for Mitt because of his policies. I didn't vote for him because of the callousness he showed toward the working poor. It's great to hear stories about how he was willing to help people in his ward or close to his inner circle. But the fact is that there are countless Americans who need the president to implement policies that will protect them because they don't hang in wealthy, privileged circles.
Romney losing was not some freak accident. It would not have been avoided with a better campaign, but with better POLICIES. And he waffled way too much.
I will say, though, that if Republicans continue to declare war against women, there will be more of this in the future. 2012 was a very embarrassing year for the Republican party in general. Trying to keep poor, disenfranchised, "urban" people from voting? DESPERATE! Maybe for the next four years, spend time trying to develop better policies instead of trying to figure out how to keep the Democrats from voting.

How many times are the same old excuses going to be rehashed? If republicans ever want to win another major election, they had better address the issues instead of just thinking they are right on everything and then being dumbfounded and surprised when they lose.

At this point, who really cares except for a few people in Utah? Truth is I know the Romneys and they are great people but Mitt did NOT explain well enough to ME why he should be president. I heard more about how bad Obama is, but not a lot of specifics on how Mitt would govern. I think he could have done an awesome job scrutinizing and reforming the way our government works but this is all moot. Let it go, D-News...no more stories on Mitt, please.

And I'd love to hear why Zwick was qualified to be Romney's aide and join this wealth-creating private equity firm, besides being the son of a GA. Who is Zwick?

The "flip-flopper" label was and is just as inaccurate as many of the other labels and perceptions that were applied to Mitt Romney. What he apparently understood and practiced is that government must govern people as they are, not as one might wish they were. Here is where many of the right-wing groups get in trouble: they insist on using government as a weapon to force people to live according to conservative ideals. That's poor government, and Romney understood that. I just wish he had been able to articulate it. It doesn't mean he doesn't believe in conservative principles. It means he knows how to govern.

I think he lost because Democrats - and Republicans, to some extent - were successful at creating a false perception of who he is. There's no doubt he would have been a great president. I wish we could talk him into running again, but it's hard to ask people as decent as the Romneys to sacrifice so much and to subject himself to so much abuse.

What was Jerusalem like when Lehi packed it up and left for the America's??? This country's state of affairs can't be a whole lot different than Lehi's old Jerusalem... So now what??? Where do we go next?

I, in no way meant to express that Social Security is a freebie! Those of us who have worked hard all our lives have earned the right to collect Social Security. Every penny of it, in fact!

I, however, personally do not think SS benefits should be paid to people who haven't earned them and simply walked across the border into our great country and expect us to take care of them. I think that the current "advertising" for people to sign up for food stamps is disgraceful. I am sick and tired of having people who could work, are living on the dole, and receiving free cell phones, etc. These qualify, in my estimation, as freebies. It is also the way to "buy" votes in coming elections.

I realize that there are many good people who cannot find jobs now. They should not give up looking, however. Collecting unemployment benefits should be a temporary fix.

Where is the America where I grew up that taught people to be self-reliant and hard working? Have we become so slothful that we look to government to take care of us? Where is our honor and dignity?

A billion dollars (minus 5% to Zwickau and other fundraisers) could not convince the electorate? I wanted Mitt to,win, but he lacked passion and a strong image, but then, his campaign advisors had neither. A very poor campaign indeed. Like the Republican establishment in Congress today, Mitt did not want to fight and take on the democrats.

Another why-Romney-lost article and a brand new volley of whining, excuses, and name calling.

If Republicans want to go on losing presidential elections, this is certainly the way to do it.

Yet another article about why Romney lost. The election is now 9 months in the past. Nothing is going to change the outcome. Why are we still talking about it?

Deseret News headline, August 10, 2101: "Last Living Voter From 2012 Explains What Went Wrong in Romney Campaign"

If this is the best analysis that the republicans can do as far are understanding why they lost the election -- that it was about people wanting too much free stuff from the government then I think that the repubs may not win a presidential election for a long long long time! They lost due to the issues and where they stood on them. they lost because they pummeled each other in ridiculous primary debates--where it was a rush to the far right as fast and as hard as they could go! They lost because all we heard was a praising of the old tired Reagan mantra of "trickle down" and 'government is the enemy etc etc... Well things haven't trickled -- the corporations and special interests and investment bankers and everything set up to maximize their profits and minimize their outgo... . Hedge fund managers get to day trade with borrowed money and still claim the long term tax rate on their trades.. Why is that??? Its a rich man's game and you, average Joe, don't have a seat at the table, not at all - and especially if Romney would have won!

All of you experts and pundits want to criticize Romney's "campaign" and what he did "wrong".

The truth is - even the Republican establishment did not want him elected, because THEY all knew Romney would do everything in his power to clean house which would have included most of the good ol' boys in the Republican power structure. Therefore, they did not get behind what would have been the best President since Ronald Reagan.

Sorry times for America.

MT&P Layton UT -

That was real cute.

And what we got was Barack Hussein Obama who hates the U.S. Constitution - a one man wrecking machine doing all he can, and a very good job at that, to "fundamentally change" and destroy this country with his radical socialist agenda who wants control over every individual and control over society.

During the health-care debate, Obama claimed that "no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the the American people: if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what."

This was/is a total lie.

We now know from recent current polling and research that 30% of employers will most likely STOP offering health care in the years after 2014, once the "Affordable" Health Care Act is fully implemented.

No message. Flip flopped. No backbone (couldn't stand up to the Tea Party). Out of touch with America. Secretive. Better opponent. These are some of the reasons. It's not that complicated.

Laura Ann,

Very perceptive comment. Were Pres. Obama applying for a secret service job, his background would disqualify him from being hired. Yet 51% of the country voted for the guy.

A year later -- the Romney crowd STILL hasn't gotten over it.

Flip and Flop...

That's why Mitt lost,
the sooner you admit it, the sooner you can deal with it.

Re: "And Obama won because he pandered to his base."

As if Romney didn't pander to his base. His wanting to be everything to everybody in his party won him the reputation of a flip-flopper.

Re: "Like the good ole Chicago politicians of yesteryear, Obama boughty the election by promising everything to every have not."

The same old song. Those bad, bad have-nots. The rich are industrious, virtuous, and suffering, while the poor are lazy and immoral and have it much too good.

Jesus must have gotten things backwards, because he said "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God belongs to you" and "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." How could he have gotten it so wrong?

Shaun just said Republicans blame some Democrat everyday for the bad economy and then three comments later Kaotic blames George Bush...holy cow!

A). Who cares about a year old political race? Kind of like wondering if the deck chairs on the Titanic were freshly painted.

B). The next president will win if he/she gives more free stuff away...

Sadly conservative values don't get votes in FL, CA, Cuyahoga Cty Ohio and the north east...

If the electorial college gives each county one vote...or if every state divides the electorial votes up by % of popular vote (like Nebraska)...conservatives stand a chance!!!

Otherwise, the country I grew up in is toast...socialism in and capitalism out!

Might be time to move...

Mitt Romney lost the election, in my opinion, because he was a Man of Integrity, something we rarely see these days. People are poorly informed and care only about their Facebook account and playing games on electronic instruments. I don't believe that even George Washington would be electable today. He was humble and hard working. I believe that if Romney had made it into the White House, he probably wouldn't have even let them pay him. Americans don't want Superman, they want Batman. Obama did a lot of stuff when he was younger that would have put him out of the running twenty years or so ago. I will always be sad that this country that I love so much has made the choices they have and will have in the near future. I wanted Superman and Metropolis. Bummer.

@ Eddie...George Bush pushed the big rock down the hill and when Obama became President, it was a full blown landslide. Obama is trying to fix the countries economic problems caused by the Bush Administration and the two unnecessary and costly wars he forced upon the American people. The American taxpayer was raped and pillaged by Bush and his cronies and if you think Romney would have been any better, then you are in Lala Land. As for entitlements, social security is not an entitlement. Social security is something every working American has paid into during their working life and it should be there for them when they need it.

Suppose Mitt had been elected. I personally think we'd be at war with Iran and possibly Syria. What's more, we'd be using the GWB model of making war while CUTTING instead of raising taxes to cover the war's cost. Of course, we'll never know for sure, but no doubt local news media would have plenty of articles describing how Obama lost, and the current lives of the Obama family.

BYUalum,

You hit the nail on the head. How many areas had over 100% votes for Obama? Impossible to do, yet no one did anything and no comments from the left. We continue to go, not only in debt deeper and deeper, but more and more into apathy. This president is bringing us down and we had a chance to progress but too many rant the U.S. to fail.

Romney made a bad decision to be the furthest to the right on immigration in the primaries, even belittling Gingrich and Perry for having more moderate views. He took a page right out of Meg Whitman's playbook with the same result. He alienated too many Latino voters and too many in the political center.

Aside from that, he may have pulled off a win had it not been for Hurricane Sandy and Candy Crowley.

I hope the 2016 nominee chooses him for a running mate.

Republicans preach self reliance and personal responsibility but everyday they blame Obama or some other democrat for the economy.

continued.

I personally think this country lost a great opportunity to have very smart man in Mitt Romney who actually had the experience and know how to run this country. We will never know what he could have done. But, we can see (if we have eyes to see) that the agenda of BHO is very different. The outlook for our country is looking very grim and scary.

God bless the United States of America!

I was totally shocked when Romney didn't beat the beatable Obama who had failed in so many ways. However, in analyzing it for myself I have concluded:

There were too many people on the free dole who didn't want to give up their freebies. They still have no clue that these entitlements are paid by taxpayers. And, they don't care if they are!

The fight in the Republican Party was/is disgraceful. Rick Santorum's rants, raves, name-calling, and accusations were beyond the pale! Twelve potential candidates proved to be too much with too many debates with them bashing one another. No one challenged Obama. No one went after him, just each other, and, I think, it was fatal.

Mitt Romney should have attacked BHO in the other two debates like he did in the first one. The Benghazi mess was just unfolding. It would be a different story today--not the video, for sure!

The Latino vote was critical, and the Republicans did not reach out to them!

There was a great deal of voter fraud, i.e., people voting several times; people being bused to other states to vote, etc.

I'm Romney is a great husband and father. I'm sure Rick Santorum is a great husband and father. So is President Obama. We are not conducting a election for Father of the Year though. People care about issues.

As we all know, there are two sides to every issue, and Romney came squarely down on both sides of too many of them. There was one Romney in the primaries and another in the general election.

That is why he lost. That was the Romney nobody knew.

Bottom Line..Most people in this country just does not care. No one wants to work hard. It is just easier to sit home and wait for the check in the mail. Sad day for America, and if the people of this great country don't do wake up and smell the coffee soon we are all going to find our freedom down the towel. Disappointed!

It's hard for me to imagine a candidate from either party who was more qualified and who would have been a more effective President than Mitt Romney... The Guy was off the charts brilliant, a deep thinker (he understood the our Economy whereas Obama continues to show us that he simply doesn't), he was faithful and loyal to the Office of President and was as close to God as anyone who has ever ran for the Office... Yet, he didn't make it.

We all know that America is more dependent on entitlements than it has ever been, we know that Job Growth is a mirage with no substance, and painfully we all know that the Obama administration doesn't have a clue on how to fix it... Yet it was all too politically incorrect for a candidate to attack those issues when a Black President was the primary reason we were in that mess... To point fingers meant that you were Racist, or that you were out of touch with mainstream America...

IMHO the American Consituentcy proved themselves incapable of making adult decisions by electing an adult who could fix our financial woes... Instead, we reelected Santa.

Most Truthful and Patriotic:

Yes, that statement did him in, along with the GOP generally alienating the Latino vote which put Romney behind the 8-ball in key states like Florida, Nevada and Colorado. Add in that apparently many tea-party Republicans stayed home, he was pretty much doomed.

Also, credit to the President for a far superior ground game. He knew who his voters were and he made sure they made it to the polls in mass to insure victory.

Romney lost because he had to pander to the base. Romney the businessman might have beaten Obama.
Romney the faux right winger could not.

The candidate that can win the GOP primary will not win the general. The candidate that could win the general election, could not win the primary. Quite the conundrum.

Lastly, and unfairly..... If America saw how deeply and thoroughly Romney was immersed in the LDS faith he would have lost by an even greater margin.

Most Truthful...
How can anyone today not see the sad state of this country and miss who is sinking the ship? Really, "NO, YOU DID NOT..."
We have a President and administration who undermines every value and principle of honesty and integrity that has made this country great.

I believe Romney would have become one of our great presidents. The American people chose the wrong man.

Ah, yes - the weekly Romney story. Still blaming everyone else for his loss.

Mr Zwick says “I think if people could have seen and understood Mitt Romney the man..."

But we did.
Remember the old phrase "You are what you say and do, when no one's looking"?

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.
My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."