# We all dodged a bullet by not electing Romney. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 19, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509 "2012-11-19T15:16:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/1 "2012-11-19T15:16:51Z")
Now that we have had a chance to see who the real Mitt Romney is, we can all breath a sigh of relief that this nincompoop didn’t get elected. He is nothing more that a plutocrat with a massive sense of entitlement. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-republicans-abandoning-romney-gifts-20121118,0,5591087.story?track=rss](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-republicans-abandoning-romney-gifts-20121118,0,5591087.story?track=rss) It turns out that every negative thing that he was accused of during the primary’s and the election was pretty accurate. When you are a Republican and get repudiated by Jindahl, Gingrich, Lindsay Graham and a host of others, that says something. It takes some doing. Romney has no more character than a cardboard cutout. Thank goodness his role in politics is finished. Go ship some more jobs oversees, Mittens. You are such a fine American. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/2 "2012-11-19T16:13:41Z")
The best part is when he blames the 20 debates necessary for the GOP nomination, yeah it’s maybe too many, but I’ve never heard a politician complain about having too much air time before. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/3 "2012-11-19T16:18:49Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > The best part is when he blames the 20 debates necessary for the GOP nomination, yeah it’s maybe too many, but I’ve never heard a politician complain about having too much air time before. Yeah, that was Mitt’s problem–that he gave us too MUCH information about his plans for the country. Not enough :rolleyes: on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/4 "2012-11-19T17:33:37Z")
Stealing my line about dodging a bullet. tsk tsk. 🙂 I’m still waiting for someone, anyone to point out (on the national level) Romney’s hypocricy on the whole ‘gifts’ thing. He too offered ‘gifts’. Deregulation, tax cuts for the rich, huge (unwanted, unasked for) increases in defense spending\*, promises to fulfill his radical constituencies wildest fantasies of repealing Obamacare, war with Iran, etc. He’s only butthurt because his gifts proved to be less popular. - Bets he and his friends invested heavily in defense contractor stocks before the election. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/5 "2012-11-19T17:46:44Z")
Perhaps the public stoning is evidence that, as some commentators claim, “the fever has broken”. That remains to be seen, but it’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/6 "2012-11-19T19:08:00Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Perhaps the public stoning is evidence that, as some commentators claim, “the fever has broken”. That remains to be seen, but it’s possible. Nah. This is just another opportunity for the party to deflect their role in the loss. “It wasn’t us. It was that guy.” The Pubbies created what Romney had to become in order to clinch the nomination. Their loony primary was just as responsible for Romney’s inevitable demise as Romney’s whiplash-like position changes. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/7 "2012-11-19T19:26:00Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Nah. This is just another opportunity for the party to deflect their role in the loss. “It wasn’t us. It was that guy.” The Pubbies created what Romney had to become in order to clinch the nomination. Their loony primary was just as responsible for Romney’s inevitable demise as Romney’s whiplash-like position changes. What it has done is polarize the Republican party between more moderates/centrists and right-wing Tea Party types who think Romney “wasn’t conservative enough”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/8 "2012-11-19T19:38:42Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Nah. This is just another opportunity for the party to deflect their role in the loss. “It wasn’t us. It was that guy.” The Pubbies created what Romney had to become in order to clinch the nomination. Their loony primary was just as responsible for Romney’s inevitable demise as Romney’s whiplash-like position changes. That’s the way I see it. A lot of Republicans have a vested interest in saying the entire problem with the 2012 election was Mitt Romney and there’s nothing wrong with the Republican Party. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/9 "2012-11-19T19:52:50Z")
There will be plenty of Republicans who change their rhetoric, but not the the way they think. They’ve tried the big tent before. It was a big tent, all were welcome to come in, and vote for the same old tired politicians and ideas. However people have short memories, it will likely succeed. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/10 "2012-11-19T20:08:07Z")
It’s amazing how deluded he was before the election. He really was serious when he said he’d not made a concession speech. He had no doubt he’d win. It makes no difference whether he ignored facts, _a la_ Dubya, or chose aides or contractors who fed him incorrect information. Either way he was a bad manager. Imagine the trouble the country could get in if the president were deluded about weapons of mass destruction in a South Asian country. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/11 "2012-11-19T20:14:33Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > It’s amazing how deluded he was before the election. He really was serious when he said he’d not made a concession speech. He had no doubt he’d win. The election was close enough that a concession speech wouldn’t be a top priority. How many candidates prepare a concession speech ahead of time anyway? At least on that one point, he did pretty good. He was being pressed to wait on the concession, but he came out and conceded with a decent speech. His best moment of the entire election or the post-game. Which is pretty sad. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/12 "2012-11-19T20:25:06Z")
You can’t tell from that if he really believed he was going to win. No candidate can publicly admit any other possibility until the polls close. Stating he’d only written that one speech could easily have been just more campaigning bravado/bullshit. Sad if it’s true, though. We can’t afford another President with so much faith in truthiness. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/13 "2012-11-19T20:39:51Z")
The funniest thing is what I’ve seen in other political forums. The Republicans are claiming they lost because they didn’t get a good candidate to campaign their cause. We’d have had a very weak Commander-in-chief had he won. My 47 cents worth. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/14 "2012-11-19T20:44:51Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > The best part is when he blames the 20 debates necessary for the GOP nomination, yeah it’s maybe too many, but I’ve never heard a politician complain about having too much air time before. If it weren’t for the debates and his opponents melting down he might not have been the nominee. I don’t know if candidates promised stuff to voters in the first election in history, but they did in the second. Maybe he now realizes he should have shown some guts and moved realistically to the center. Maybe reality is catching up to his rich guy CEO “I can do no wrong - my lackeys agree” attitude. Or maybe he is just stupid and out of touch. Perhaps Obama’s negative ads were right on the money after all. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/15 "2012-11-19T20:56:00Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Nah. This is just another opportunity for the party to deflect their role in the loss. “It wasn’t us. It was that guy.” The Pubbies created what Romney had to become in order to clinch the nomination. Their loony primary was just as responsible for Romney’s inevitable demise as Romney’s whiplash-like position changes. Exactly. Just as the Republicans have distanced themselves from Dubya, but have not changed their stance on foreign policy, torture, economic policy or women’s reproductive rights by one jot or tittle. They want us all to think it’s the man and not the machine … but it’s the machine. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/16 "2012-11-19T21:16:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There will be plenty of Republicans who change their rhetoric, but not the the way they think. They’ve tried the big tent before. It was a big tent, all were welcome to come in, and vote for the same old tired politicians and ideas. However people have short memories, it will likely succeed. I think we’ll know after the next midterms. If the Republicans clean the Democrats’ clocks in the midterms, as I believe they will, then we’ll get another Romney clone for the next presidential election. If, on the other hand, they lose seats in the house, or worse, lose the house, then I think pragmatism and self preservation will kick in and we’ll see some new faces come presidential primary time, with more moderates than ideological purists and nut-jobs. The Pubbies still do have a big tent. They’ve welcomed the misogynists, homophobes, xenophobes, anti-intellectuals, racists, and quite a surprising number of self-hating blacks with open arms, but that’s a short-term strategy, and not a winning one. With the party’s recent trajectory, if they don’t moderate, I don’t think the Republicans can win another presidential election. They can, however, cause a lot of damage in the midterms. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/17 "2012-11-19T21:36:12Z")
> [@](#): > > it’s amazing how deluded he was before the election. He really was serious when he said he’d not made a concession speech. He had no doubt he’d win. > > It makes no difference whether he ignored facts, a la Dubya, or chose aides or contractors who fed him incorrect information. Either way he was a bad manager. could be both. could also bethe fix was in, and he knew it. Rove was _really sure_ he was going to win Ohio…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/18 "2012-11-19T21:46:21Z")
You’d think he’d have learned his lesson from 2008 and “You have your numbers. I have THE numbers.” 😃 If this means the disappearance of Turdblossom from our TV screens, then that’s a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/19 "2012-11-19T21:48:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That’s the way I see it. A lot of Republicans have a vested interest in saying the entire problem with the 2012 election was Mitt Romney and there’s nothing wrong with the Republican Party. Agreed. This is just a good 'ol fashioned _throw the guy under the bus_ strategy to save their own hides. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509/20 "2012-11-19T21:53:11Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I think we’ll know after the next midterms. If the Republicans clean the Democrats’ clocks in the midterms, as I believe they will, then we’ll get another Romney clone for the next presidential election. If, on the other hand, they lose seats in the house, or worse, lose the house, then I think pragmatism and self preservation will kick in and we’ll see some new faces come presidential primary time, with more moderates than ideological purists and nut-jobs. > > The Pubbies still do have a big tent. They’ve welcomed the misogynists, homophobes, xenophobes, anti-intellectuals, racists, and quite a surprising number of self-hating blacks with open arms, but that’s a short-term strategy, and not a winning one. > > With the party’s recent trajectory, if they don’t moderate, I don’t think the Republicans can win another presidential election. They can, however, cause a lot of damage in the midterms. You know, I haven’t really considered the mid-terms yet. It will be interesting. I assume the Republicans won’t lose many seats by sticking to the ‘blacks cause high taxes’ theme since most are in safe districts. But they won’t lose those either if they moderate the message. Congressional races are very local, so they can maintain different national and local messaging. It will definitely be interesting to watch it unfold. I hope for destruction of the Republican party so I can start hoping for destruction of the Democrats to follow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-all-dodged-a-bullet-by-not-electing-romney/641509.md?page=2)