contradictory? if mccain got a bunch more votes than romney then there is no question that romney, a liberal republican, was a disasterous choice and must never be repeated. it’s a damning argument against liberal republicans given two failures in a row.
so of course, the romney liberals and GOPe have to attack that number. now the argument is that romney didn’t really get fewer votes. he’s getting a bit more. actually he was a good candidate, the author argues. the author wants to imply that a conservative candidate would have lost as well. maybe by a far worse margin. that argument, if true, would have the effect of further dividing conservatives, the main goal of statists in both parties.
to argue romney was a better candidate than mccain (the thesis of this article), he would have to demonstrably hold or gain conservative/republican voters (i.e., increase his vote totals significantly over mccain, who was by every measure a weak candidate. hope your not arguing that), while drawing significantly more obama supporters and first time voters.
for me. this data doesn’t yet support their thesis. but it is clearly an argument the republican elite has to make to keep conservatives on their plantation.
where are you getting these scores?
Mitt beat John’s turnout. The margin that Barack got was pinched from both sides. Unfortunately it was not pinched ENOUGH.