# The official post-Election Day thread:11/7/12 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 7, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177 "2012-11-07T05:00:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/81 "2012-11-07T16:46:09Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I don’t understand this. > As someone said, how about IL/WI/MI/OH? > Or do you mean to add the “fresh” coast of the Great Lakes? Not to mention CO, IA, and NM! ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/82 "2012-11-07T16:46:50Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I confess to being curious as to who Romney would have picked for his Cabinet. The Donald, Ted Nugent, Meat Loaf? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/83 "2012-11-07T17:06:47Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Dick Morris is [admitting](http://www.dickmorris.com/why-i-was-wrong/#more-10133) he was wrong about the Romney landslide. His reasoning? Sandy. “It made all the difference.” That’s quite a wall of numbers Dick “the dick” Morris has put up there. Sadly, not a single one is specific to his claims about Sandy. What a moron. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/84 "2012-11-07T17:06:57Z")
We’re still waiting on the North Dakota Senate race, but it looks like Heidi Heitkamp was somehow able to pull off an upset and win that race. I don’t know how many people were expecting this either, but [Democrat John Tester has held onto his Senate seat.](http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-tester-wins-montana-senate-20121107,0,1674174.story) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/85 "2012-11-07T17:10:50Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Dick Morris is [admitting](http://www.dickmorris.com/why-i-was-wrong/#more-10133) he was wrong about the Romney landslide. His reasoning? Sandy. “It made all the difference.” > [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > That’s quite a wall of numbers Dick “the dick” Morris has put up there. Sadly, not a single one is specific to his claims about Sandy. What a moron. People should stop paying attention to Dick Morris. He’s good for a laugh but I doubt he believes anything he says. It’s just too stupid. For the record, turnout in New York and New Jersey were both down more than 10 percent - Sandy had a bigger effect than I thought. Obama still won with a majority of the popular vote but it would’ve been a bigger win if not for the weather. (Turnout overall was down, though.) Given the results in the House and Senate I don’t think Republican leadership will be able to convince a lot of thinking people that Romney lost because of Sandy. It didn’t help him, but he’d already lost. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/86 "2012-11-07T17:13:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I hope Obama does reach out to both parties. We got big problems to solve. The ugly partisanship has got to end. Somehow this country has to find a way to make the two party system work again. **No,** sir. What this country needs is a **different** two-party system, with the two parties being the Dems and some new progressive-left party, and the Pubs/conservatives completely and permanently marginalized. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/87 "2012-11-07T17:16:19Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > We’re still waiting on the North Dakota Senate race, but it looks like Heidi Heitkamp was somehow able to pull off an upset and win that race. > > I don’t know how many people were expecting this either, but [Democrat John Tester has held onto his Senate seat.](http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-tester-wins-montana-senate-20121107,0,1674174.story) Sam Wang picked both of those, thereby entitling him to kick sand in the face of Nate Silver if he ever sees him on the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/88 "2012-11-07T17:19:09Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > We’re still waiting on the North Dakota Senate race, but it looks like Heidi Heitkamp was somehow able to pull off an upset and win that race. > > I don’t know how many people were expecting this either, but [Democrat John Tester has held onto his Senate seat.](http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-tester-wins-montana-senate-20121107,0,1674174.story) The Montana senate race was one of the few things that Silver got wrong. Tester had been ahead in almost all the polls the week leading up to the race, had raised a ton of money, and was running as the incumbent. Yet Silver’s “state fundamental” adjustment added an entire eight points to the polls in Rehberg’s favor, making him a roughly sixty five percent favorite. I’d like to see him explain why his adjustments were so far off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/89 "2012-11-07T17:26:35Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > The Montana senate race was one of the few things that Silver got wrong. Tester had been ahead in almost all the polls the week leading up to the race, had raised a ton of money, and was running as the incumbent. Yet Silver’s “state fundamental” adjustment added an entire eight points to the polls in Rehberg’s favor, making him a roughly sixty five percent favorite. I’d like to see him explain why his adjustments were so far off the mark. He called tons of races, many of them with 90% probabilities, many with 60-some% probabilities. He called this one 66% Republican and 34% Democrat. \*That’s not wrong. \* If anything, he’s too conservative. He got nearly all of his hunches right - whether he claimed it was ‘on the bubble’ or ‘near certain.’ _ **He got more right than he predicted he would** _. He also, once again, where he erred, erred on the side of over-estimating the Republican. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/90 "2012-11-07T17:28:13Z")
> [@bup](#): > > He called this one 66% Republican and 34% Democrat. > > That’s not wrong. This is kind of picky, isn’t it? If he said Tester was probably going to lose in spite of the polls and Tester won as the polls predicted, he did at least get some significant things wrong in that race. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/91 "2012-11-07T17:32:04Z")
> [@bup](#): > > He also, once again, where he erred, erred on the side of over-estimating the Republican. Uh yeah that’s what I said. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/92 "2012-11-07T17:59:03Z")
And when the smoke cleared, and Florida, Virginia, Ohio, and Colorado all went for Obama, California, **for the 25th consecutive time** , was irrelevant. Not since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 has the winner not had a majority without California. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/93 "2012-11-07T18:02:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **No,** sir. What this country needs is a **different** two-party system, with the two parties being the Dems and some new progressive-left party, and the Pubs/conservatives completely and permanently marginalized. I think what you really mean is that this country needs different people. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/94 "2012-11-07T18:03:49Z")
I was disappointed, but now, after reflection, I accept the results. For me, my goal is to avoid losing my savings and assets. I don’t care about any reforms to government any more, as I accept that reforms are impossible (with the Federal gov consuming 40% of GNP). Frankly, I hope Obama piles on spending and taxation to the point where things collapse-only that will cause any real reform. Think of this period as akin to the end of the pre-WWI world order. The whole structure is rotten, and needs to be razed to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/95 "2012-11-07T18:07:51Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I think **OMG** is being unusually gracious right now. He could be whining about voter fraud or making extremist political statements but instead he’s been a pretty good sport. I would like to see a spirit of bipartisanship over the next four years, and I want that more than I want any one particular policy in effect. Surely I can’t be alone in this. Haha! Stop horsing around olives and help me with this crow stew. Pass me that big ceramic bowl. And don’t forget to tell OMG not to get his ass up until he’s finished every bite. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/96 "2012-11-07T18:17:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > For me, my goal is to avoid losing my savings and assets. > [@](#): > > Frankly, I hope Obama piles on spending and taxation to the point where things collapse So which is it? I’m sorry to say, but your assets are probably a lot safer under Obama than any Republican, at least until this foolish supply-side/job creator nonsense gets thrown away. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/97 "2012-11-07T18:19:40Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Frankly, I hope Obama piles on spending and taxation to the point where things collapse-only that will cause any real reform. Yeah - he could replicate the spending and taxation of the early 1940’s. That would have a devastating effect on the economy for decades to come, just like it did before, right? ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/98 "2012-11-07T18:22:25Z")
If the lesson that you’re taking away from this election is that the US is now “D+6”, then you’re still missing the point. You’re still stuck in “the electorate is wrong” mode, and you’re continually going to lose elections if you try to chane what the electorate is. The way you change that party ID margin is by crafting a message that 50% or more of the electorate likes. Perhaps that seems obvious, but it’s something that Republicans seemed to be denying or resisting the entire time. Think about all the harping about independents - OK, Republicans won them by 5, per CNN’s exit poll. But if you were using that as a proxy for moderates - well, Obama won those by 15. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/99 "2012-11-07T18:30:05Z")
> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#): > > Romney’s big problem – which became the Republicans’ big problem – was his personal mediocrity and insipidity. This was really brought home during his flat, passionless, dutiful, bland, perfunctory concession speech. That sums him up perfectly. The speech was certainly gracious, appreciative, and congratulatory towards Obama, with the standard “let’s work together” line. But to be honest, it felt like a speech that had been put together with a checklist: 1. State outcome 2. Thank wife 3. Thank kids 4. Thank running mate 5. Reaffirm values /w generic statement 6. Wish Obama luck 7. Generic statement of needing to work together 8. Thank assembled party members 9. Wave, smile, exit stage right I got absolutely nothing from the guy that told me what Mitt Romney actually felt at the moment. He must have been horribly, bitterly disappointed, because despite the apparent 332-205 EV count the truth is that he came VERY close to winning. And it was all over. He could have said a lot of things. He could have apologized to his party, he could have trumpeted Paul Ryan for 2016, he could have begged Republicans to really work with Obama, he could have picked an issue and demanded action, whatever. But he basically said nothing. And really, that’s why he lost against a beatable opponent. He never gave the people an affirmative reason why they should vote for him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177/100 "2012-11-07T18:39:12Z")
The problem was not just that Romney was dull and uninspiring and lacked any semblance of conviction, it’s that even with those flaws, Romney was by far the best Republican presidential candidate in 2012. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-post-election-day-thread-11-7-12/640177.md?page=6)