# Bi-partisan excuse thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 5, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988 "2012-11-05T18:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/1 "2012-11-05T18:41:00Z")
Here’s the place to pre-emptively post the excuses that one side or the other will use for why their preferred candidate lost. Try to keep the responses at least somewhat serious. (come on, at least _try_) I’ll start: Obama: Voter suppression tactics by the Republicans kept many voters from the polls. If these voters had not been intimidated, Obama would have won. Romney: Hurricane Sandy kept Romney from executing his masterful end-game plan, wherein he would have rolled out a storm of his own that would have swept him to power. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/2 "2012-11-05T18:45:58Z")
Obama: GOP obstruction kept the economic recovery in check which created fundamentals too difficult to overcome. Romney: Electing a wishy-washy former moderate is no way to win an election. A true conservative ™ would have won easily. (Cue Lindsay Graham’s head [exploding](http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=90512582-A7CE-40FF-BBA5-BFC303260A86)). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/3 "2012-11-05T18:47:32Z")
> [@](#): > > “If I hear anybody say it was because Romney wasn’t conservative enough I’m going to go nuts,” said Graham. “We’re not losing 95 percent of African-Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics and voters under 30 because we’re not being hard-ass enough.” Lindsay Graham, as quoted in _Daily Ko_s, here: > **[Lindsey Graham says he'll go nuts if GOPers say Romney lost because he wasn't...](https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/05/1155900/-Lindsey-Graham-says-he-ll-go-nuts-if-GOPers-say-Romney-lost-because-he-wasn-t-conservative-enough)** > > Moderate Mitt of the first debate was the only Mitt to have a shot in 2012 > > In a story about the looming GOP civil war, Jonathan Martin gets this great quote from South Carolina Senator Lindsey ... ETA: Great minds think alike. Twisted minds as well, it would seem… ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/4 "2012-11-05T18:48:16Z")
Obama: Winning re-election during economic crisis is always an uphill battle. Romney: Winning election against an incumbant is always an uphill battle. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/5 "2012-11-05T19:03:16Z")
Obama supporters: Obama blew the election in Denver. Romney supporters: We were looking ahead to 2016 anyway. Let the Dems keep having to deal with this mess. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/6 "2012-11-05T19:10:07Z")
The only way the “not conservative enough” thing will fly is if the GOP wins the Senate and adds more Tea Partiers to the caucus. That is at least possible even if Romney loses, so it is also plausible. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/7 "2012-11-05T19:25:43Z")
Romney: Wait - isn’t [unskewedpolls.com](http://unskewedpolls.com) going to unskew the actual results? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/8 "2012-11-05T19:40:50Z")
I forgot another one for if Romney loses: Obviously the 47% just voted to take more bennies from the job creators. And if Obama loses: RACISM! ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/9 "2012-11-05T19:43:35Z")
Liberals: Obama really won. All the polling proves it. Republicans stole the election. Tagg Romney owns the company that makes the voting machines etc. Conservatives: Romney was not a true conservative. Had a true conservative been nominated, conservative voters would have emerged by the millions from their secret hiding places and voted him in. But as it is, they stayed home. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/10 "2012-11-05T19:46:35Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > I forgot another one for if Romney loses: Obviously the 47% just voted to take more bennies from the job creators. > > And if Obama loses: RACISM! What if Obama’s final vote tally is: 47%? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/11 "2012-11-05T19:49:45Z")
Oh, haven’t you been reading the news? Liberals already HAVE their ready-made excuse in case they lose. > **[AP poll: U.S. majority have prejudice against blacks](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/10/27/poll-black-prejudice-america/1662067/)** > > AP poll: USA's racial attitude hasn't improved during Obama tenure; slight majority expresses prejudice toward blacks. Americans are too racist to elect a black man! Never mind that they already did it once, they’re STILL racist at heart. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/12 "2012-11-05T19:51:55Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Americans are too racist to elect a black man! Never mind that they already did it once, they’re STILL racist at heart. Post #8 beat you to it. Thanks for playing though - you can have a nice home version of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/13 "2012-11-05T19:54:46Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What if Obama’s final vote tally is: 47%? And Romney still loses? Then I guess Gary Johnson had a hell of a night! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/14 "2012-11-05T19:56:33Z")
Also, Democrats: It’s Big Money from Big Business and Fat Cat Rich Guys. Sheldon Adelson, Koch brothers. Conservatives on the USSC struck down McCain-Feingold to help out their team. Republicans: The Liberal Media was in the tank for Obama. Biased fact-checkers, debate moderators etc. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-partisan-excuse-thread/639988/15 "2012-11-05T20:00:27Z")
I’m plumping for the anti-excuse: that Big Money didn’t win. With the hope that next time out, when Darth Rove goes around with his diamond-studded begging bowl, he’ll get more of “Well, we all love your work, but is it really cost effective?”