Let’s Not Panic Over Romney’s Defeat

I know most people would like to forget about the election, but as someone who supported Mitt Romney throughout the primary campaign -- taking a lot of flak from Spectator readers in the process -- I would like to defend his effort and make a few comments about the future of the Republican Party.

First of all, Romney ran a damned good race. He was up in the polls by as much as 7 points (Gallup) going into the last week. Where he got sandbagged was Hurricane Sandy. The storm captured the nation's attention and pushed the election off the front page. It gave President Obama a chance to act presidential (with vague memories of President George Bush Jr.'s initial inaction on Hurricane Katrina reverberating in the background) and to shake hands with Chris Christie. Now I don't fault Christie either and don't see any nefarious plot to maneuver for 2016. A governor has to act on behalf of his state. Parts of New Jersey were devastated, and if Christie had snubbed Obama, it would have put thousands of his constituents in immediate danger -- and been interpreted as his fault as well.

So let's just call it an Act of God. Maybe the fates were shining down on President Obama. Polls showed that people who made up their minds the day they voted broke 7 percent for Obama -- a sharp reversal of the usual pattern. I think the storm probably made the difference. Read more....