MY LAST POLITICAL POST OF THE YEAR  -  I HOPE!

As someone who works in politics, let me say this - I voted for Romney, but he did not run a particularly good campaign.  The man simply did not deserve to win purely in terms of the performance of his campaign.  

It was only ever close (if it ever was) because of Obama's abysmal performance in the first debate.

Ryan was not a great VP pick, he was only okay. Wisconsin will likely NEVER vote for a Republican candidate for President for at least a generation (they haven't since 1984).  Also, Ryan's Medicare Plan is probably something we need to do, but it scares the shit out of old people and it gave the Dems something to talk about other than the jobs and the miserable state of the economy which were Romney's strengths all along.

 FLORIDA, however, is actually a competitive state and Rubio could have been a difference maker there, still satisfied the base, and maybe even have allowed Romney to pick up a point for two with Hispanics.  It still would not have made the difference, however

Truth is, Romney is not a professional politician. Consequently, he is not that good at politics. Obama has his defects to be sure, but he is simply better at both being a candidate and the nuts and bolts of winning elections.  Governing is a different story.

Democrats, at least in Presidential races, now have an technological and demographic edge 

• Women are 54% of the electorate and quite frankly the Todd Aikens of the world frighten persuadable women voters;
• Whites are 72% of the electorate, down from 88% in 1992.
• Hispanics are a risng demograpic. Romney got about 20% with them because of the "self-deportation" line he had to use to win the crazy competition in the Republican primary. Bush II got about 40%.
• Also, R's in the South (like Gov. Rick Perry of Texas) get it, we absolutely need immigrant labor in this country.  The business and ruling class of the South and West want Hispanics here not matter what they say publicly. 
• Wages are lower in the South becaue they don't have unions. Why don't they have unions? First, it was slavery, then immigrant labor but perhaps most of all because of the dominant authoritarian culture of the American South.
• If I see one more R posting a Red map (see below), I think I will go nuts. Its' called one man, one vote. The GOP lost this one fair and square under the electoral system we have had since 1789 when we adopted the U.S. Constitiution.   
• Any Republican who wants to scrap the Electoral College should have his head examined. The EC dilutes the impact of the large states (CA, NY) which will vote Dem for the foreseeable future and enlarges the impact of small states (like ND, ID) which are reliably Republica.  The Electoral College is an anti-majoriarian device that more often than not works to the advantage of Republicans.

• Also, the polling was skewed. Apparently, most polls acutaly UNDERCOUNTED/UNDERSAMPLED Dems, not the other way around.  
• The Northeast and the Great Lakes Midwest are reliably Democratic in Presidential years with the possible exception of Ohio which remains competitive with a mild Dem tilt. The West Coast is reliably Democratic is well.  
• Texas and the Deep South other than Florida are reliabilty Republican in Presidential races.  Florida is competitive and will remain so. Texas will get more competitive with the increasing influence of Hispanics.   New Mexico and Colorado are now Dem states and the rest of the Far West in Republican.   The Great Plains are basically Republican with the exception of Iowa which is gettign pretty Dem. 
• Mid-Atlantic regions are competitive especially VA and NC.
• Figure out the reality of the ground condtions and move on. 

Fokker Out