Reason Magazine's 3 reasons Mitt Romney lost

Last Night's Election: A reasonable incumbent defeated a poor challenger

The largest debt of any country in the history of the world and a decline in global leadership weren't enough to dissuade Americans from re-electing Barack Obama last night.

There are a variety of reasons but some are so obvious that it's amazing the Republicans haven't figured them out. The most glaring is that people vote for a candidate they like and it's suicidal to field someone that isn't particularly likable or compelling. Mitt Romney the candidate was not someone that exited anyone.

We live in a time where people have very short memories, but force yourself to think back to the Republican primaries and remember how just about anyone who wasn't Mitt Romney was able to lead the pack for a brief time. Herman Cain who had no governmental experience and Newt Gingrich who managed to decimate the Republican House with his awful Congressional leadership were both front-runners and only ceased to be so because of their campaigns having imploded. It wasn't that the Republicans were particularly enthused about them, any more than potential savior Rick Perry whose apparent ineptitude sank his campaign almost immediately after it was launched. But none of them were Mitt Romney and that fact alone made them appealing to most of the GOP.

If dedicated Republicans were so unenthused about Romney, it's hardly surprising that he lacked Ronald Reagan's ability to win over Democrats and enough independents to win.

But there's more to it. Every year, more people reach voting age and that young generation is for the most part alienated by the social conservatism that characterizes so many Republicans.

Abortion is a killer issue for the Republicans. Even many who think it is morally wrong do not want the state to impose laws criminalizing abortion any more than they want to see laws criminalizing immoral behavior like adultery or lying. If abortion is a sin, then let God punish it and leave the state to worry about more pressing matters like the deficit.

Being seen to be hostile towards Gays is another big problem for the Republicans. Whatever one thinks about homosexuality, being the party that wants to discriminate against people based on what they do in their private sexual lives is not helpful for convincing voters that you are the party of the future.

The people that are concerned about the next four years of an Obama presidency should try to relax a bit. Despite the partisan hyperbole, he's not nearly the radical the Republicans tried to portray.

For people concerned about American energy dependence on the middle east, a conversation I had with David Jacobson, the US Ambassador to Canada, left me with the impression that Obama will OK the Keystone Pipeline soon in his second term.

For those concerned about foreign affairs issues like Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, they should rest assured that sources close to the White House have told me that the grey hairs Obama has developed in the last couple of years have as much to do with that as the economy. Obama is determined not to let Iran get a nuke and he is no Jimmy Carter. If it's going to take bombing to prevent it then Obama will bomb Iran.

For supporters of Israel who worry about Obama's commitment to the security of the Jewish state, they should be calmed by the fact that many in Israel, from doves like Shimon Peres to hawks like Moshe Arens, have said they are fully confident in Obama's support. Part of the optics of the Israel/Obama divide have less to do with the American President's coolness to Israel than to his personal disdain for Israel's Prime Minister Netenyahu. But former Lukid Foreign Minister Arens has said that Obama's speech to the UN was as pro-Zionist than any he has heard from an Israeli leader and it reflects the stability of the two nations' relationship.

There are concerns that Obama's declared flexibility with Russia will weaken America's security abilities. On that score those disparaging Obama as being untrustworthy might be able to have hope. With any luck, Obama's promise to the Russians will be as untrustworthy as they credit him to be to Americans.

With a Republican House firmly in place, the President only has so much wiggle room. With ambitious Democrats looking ahead to 2016, a destructive Obama second term would work against them, so they will do their best to prevent any serious harm to America.

All-in-all, those who hoped against Obama's reelection have reason to be disappointed, but should not feel they have reason to fear.           

I'm calling it for Obama

Even though Mitt Romney is leading in electoral college votes now at 11 PM, with the remaining states about to come in from the west coast, I'm calling it as an Obama reelection.

My prediction of a Romney win was wrong, but from the looks of things, based on the current numbers, it wasn't a terrible call.  Romney looks like he will finish the election with a substantial lead in the popular vote, so in that sense my data analysis wasn't too far off the mark.

New evidence in that machines are smarter than people

Haha!

Eye on a Crazy Planet election prediction: Data shows Obama's dismal handling of the economy will lead to a Romney win

I may have to eat crow tomorrow, but after reviewing the data, it looks as if Mitt Romney will win tonight's election. Although most polls have the Republican and Democrat nominees in a dead heat, the basis for this prediction is in some very compelling data.

The most recent George Washington University poll relays that 50% of voters disapprove of the job Obama has done on the economy and a 60% disapprove of his handling of federal spending and the deficit. A full 44% and 48% "strongly" disapprove of his performance in those categories. Only 27% and 18% respectively strongly approve of how Obama has handled those aspects of the economy

The economy is the top concern of voters, followed by jobs and government spending and the deficit. In these critical areas that  matter most to Americans, Obama's ratings are dismal.

Factor that with indications that 50% of all voters disapprove of the overall job Obama has done as president with a huge 46% saying they strongly disapprove.

Americans vote with their pocketbooks. Obama's failure on his handling of the economy will, if my analysis bears out, bring his presidency to an end with the conclusion of his first term.

The real presidential debate: Romney vs Obama Epic Rap Battle

Obama made the right call on the deficit in `08 - he just totally screwed up on it since then

h-t Small Dead Animals

Karl Rove predicts 279 electoral votes for Mitt Romney

In his column in The Wall Street Journal, Rove said the Republican presidential candidate is winning at every level of the numbers game, “from polling data to early voting.” 

“Sometime after the cock crows on the morning of Nov. 7, Mitt Romney will be declared America’s 45th president,” Rove wrote on Wednesday night. “Let’s call it 51%-48%, with Mr. Romney carrying at least 279 Electoral College votes, probably more.”

Madonna booed at New Orleans concert while trying get audience to vote for Obama

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Madonna drew boos and triggered a walkout by several concertgoers after she touted President Barack Obama on her "MDNA Tour" in New Orleans. 

The Material Girl asked during Saturday night's performance: "Who's registered to vote?" She added: "I don't care who you vote for as long as you vote for Obama.

h-t Drudge Report 

Hollywood reacts to Ann Coulter calling Obama a "retard"

Foreign policy debate shows a smug, glib Obama is willing to weaken America

The notable moment when Republican Presidential nominee's charge of  Barack Obama weakening the US Navy by allowing the number of vessels to diminish to its lowest levels since the First World War was answered by the president, "Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets..we have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them, we have these things that go under water, nuclear submarines.."

What may have escaped President Obama's military planning genius is that America's adversaries also have those technologies. Obama's unsurpassed arrogance doesn't seem to have allowed for the notion that his desire to reduce the massive trillion dollar debt he racked up by diminishing America's security capabilities is short sighted, both financially and by risking American lives.

As former US Ambassador to the United Nations put it last week, "it's American weakness, not strength, that America's enemies find provocative."

Obama is making the United States weaker than it has been at any time since Jimmy Carter was president. Carter's weak, inept handling of Iran in 1979 didn't save any American lives, it only deferred death which came back to haunt the United States with interest. Carter's weakness emboldened Iran, through its ally  Hezbollah, to murder 241 Marines in Beirut in 1983, to support the insurgency in Iraq and the Taliban in  Afghanistan. Together, these Iranian-sponsored acts have cost the lives of thousands of American military personnel and which would not have happened if Carter had effectively managed Iran.

There is a reason the Iranian mullahs want Obama to defeat Mitt Romney in the election next month. They see weakness in Obama.

Obama desperately wants America to be likes, but more damaging, he does not see the United States as a force for good in the world, which is why is keeps impairing its global power and influence. His promise conveyed to Vladimir Putin to be more flexible after his presumed reelection was a concession to Russian demands that America not have an effective missile defense.

Among the many foreign policy concerns Obama evidently doesn't understand is the difference between a geo-political adversary, which Romney correctly identifies and a terrorist threat, which Obama apparently thinks is the same thing.

When Obama said to Romney last night, "the 1980's are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back" he should have taken his own advice. American missile defense is not aimed at Russia but at smaller rogue states. Russia, like Obama still thinks in terms of 1980's era mutually assured destruction scenarios.  But warfare and strategy have moved past the dilettante who currently occupies the Oval Office.

At his Toronto talk last week, Ambassador Bolton joked that whenever they want to cheer themselves up at the Kremlin, they play the Obama "flexible" tape over and over to remind themselves what a weak adversary they have in the White House. It's no wonder that Vladimir Putin has endorsed Obama's reelection hoping to meet opposite a spineless American leadership for the next four years.

But with Iran rapidly moving towards nuclear weapons capability, the Muslim Middle East in turmoil, Russia looking to reassert itself by giving diplomatic cover to North Korea, Syria and Iran at the expense of American influence and China building up its military, a second Obama term is something both America and the free world can ill afford

Iranian regime hoping for Obama win

The Iranian regime seems to have a rooting interest in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to a review of online writers and bloggers in Iran.    

"Many in Iran are concerned that a Republican win means war,” an engineering student from Tehran named Sharhad blogged on Saturday. “The regime has plastered footage from war-torn Afghanistan and Iraq all over state TV, warning the people that this is what our country will look like if a Republican takes over in the U.S,” he wrote.     

"If there's a victory for President Obama, the 5+1 countries as well as the United States will make good with Iran," predicted a political blogger inside Iran, only hours after Saturday’s New York Times report that U.S. and Iranian officials had agreed “in principle for the first time” to discuss Iran’s ongoing nuclear program.

Hope and Change in America - Romney holds on to lead in polls

According to the Gallup organization, Mitt Romney has maintained his lead over Barack Obama in polls for the week of October 13 to 19.

Among registered voters, Romney leads Obama 48% to 46%. The trend leading up to the final presidential debate on Monday favors Romney with his lead increasing to 6% among likely voters with the Republican candidate leading Obama 51% to 45%.

Debate moderator Crowley erred and Obama lied in debate - video shows Obama pointed to Bengazi attack being caused by Mohammed video

The videos tell the story

After the Romney Obama debate

A much more spirited performance out of Barack Obama in tonight's debate may have given him a slight edge in terms of delivery. Romney highlighted that we in Canada have a 20% lower corporate tax rate, which is one of the reasons our economy is better than that of the USA. But Mitt Romney's hammering Obama about his economic stewardship made an important factor very clear. It's not Romney who is Obama's most formidable foe. What should sink the president's hope for re-election is Obama's own dismal record.

Be it energy policy, unemployment, immigration reform, national security, foreign policy, the economic recovery and the deficit, Barack Obama has been incompetent his role as president of the United States.

If Obama's record of failure is rewarded with another term, there is no reason to think he will do any better. There are, however, plenty of reasons to think America's divisive, inept Chief Executive will make things even worse.

Live Debate Coverage - Obama vs Romney Foreign Policy Debate

The debate begins at 9 PM Eastern time

Live coverage can be seen here

New poll shows Romney has 4 point lead over Obama among likely voters

From Pew Research:

Fully 66% of registered voters say Romney did the better job in last Wednesday’s debate, compared with just 20% who say Obama did better. A majority (64%) of voters who watched the debate describe it as mostly informative; just 26% say it was mostly confusing.

In turn, Romney has drawn even with Obama in the presidential race among registered voters (46% to 46%) after trailing by nine points (42% to 51%) in September. Among likely voters, Romney holds a slight 49% to 45% edge over Obama. 

Sesame Street wants Obama to take Big Bird ad down

The production company behind Sesame Street is asking political campaigns to refrain from using their characters in campaign ads — including an Obama campaign ad that uses Big Bird.

"Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down," the company said in a Tuesday statement.

Dead Heat! Post election poll shows debate winner Romney tied with Obama

PRINCETON, NJ -- Registered voters' preferences for president are evenly split in the first three days of Gallup tracking since last Wednesday's presidential debate. In the three days prior to the debate, Barack Obama had a five-percentage-point edge among registered voters.

Debate Ratings Show Obama Picked the Wrong Night to Flop

...though debates are often muddled affairs with no clear winners or losers, some are fairly clear-cut in their impact. Wednesday night’s set-to between President Obama and Mitt Romney was one such encounter. The left-wing talkers on MSNBC, the establishment types chattering on CNN and the conservatives on Fox News all agreed Romney won hands down. But the post-debate pushback from Democrats has centered not only on disingenuous “fact checking” but on the idea that the debate either didn’t matter much or that the Republican’s superiority was a superficial effect that dissipates on closer inspection. But in this case the liberal spinners have a problem: the audience. 

It turns out ratings for this debate went through the roof. The Nielson ratings agency reports that 67.2 million Americans watched the debate on television at home. That’s the second highest audience for such a debate in history (number one was the first debate between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter in 1980). And that doesn’t count those who either watched it in airports, hotels, bars or other venues or the many millions who watched it on their computers, tablets or phones. In other words, the president picked the wrong night to mail in his performance.