Why Obama won in 2012
- Created by: DaisyR13
- Created on: 07-06-14 22:51
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- Why Obama won in 2012
- Why he shouldn't have won
- 'Broken promises'?
- A number of commitments he had made in 2008 had not happened
- Didn't close Guantanamo Bay detention centre
- A number of commitments he had made in 2008 had not happened
- The economy was in a mess
- Unemployment had gone up from 7.8% to 10% in his first year and came down to 7.9% in 2012
- Prices of essential goods like oil had gone up
- He had poor approval rating - 52% of Americans disapproved of his handling of the economy
- Was America on the 'right track'?
- In 2012 only 46% of Americans said the country was on the right track and 52% said the wrong track
- His personal approval rating was poor
- In 2012 Obama's rating was only 46.8 which made it very difficult for him to re elect
- 'Broken promises'?
- Why he did win
- He was the incumbent
- It is easier to win if incumbent only 5 Presidents in the 20th century were not re elected
- He had no primary upsets behind him and a united Democratic Party
- Early negative campaigning
- Romney was portrayed as a cheating and tax dodging chief executive of a company and this negative image stuck
- In one week Obama spent $1.2 million on negative ads which were played 1,947 times in the swing state of Ohio
- Obama's campaign was superior
- Got Democrat supporters to register to vote helped gain more voters
- Organisation and getting the vote out
- In the Spring of 2012 Obama had more campaigning offices in local areas than all the Republican nominees put together
- He concentrated on swing states, in FloridaObama 106 offices and Romney 53 offices
- The Romney factor
- Gaffes
- Lack of clarity
- Campaigned in primaries as right wing then later went on to be more centre and became known as moderate Mitt
- Character
- He was never at ease and came across as awkward and lacking in communication skills, looked uneasy and his Mormon religion may also have been a factor
- Obama's support from Clinton and Bush
- Clinton made the keynote speech at party convention and is a superb campaigner
- Many supporters blamed Bush for the economical crisis not Obama
- Hurricane Sandy
- It took Romney off the headlines for 3 days
- As president Obama had to deal with the crisis and stayed in the news and looked statesmanlike
- 64% of voters said this was a reason for voting for him
- Gender
- Women voted for Obama and he held an 11 point lead on women whereas Romney won the male vote by 7 points
- Republicans views on abortion and equal rights lost them the female vote
- Women voted for Obama and he held an 11 point lead on women whereas Romney won the male vote by 7 points
- Race
- Hispanics turned against Romney because of his strict immigration policies, 71% voted for Obama
- He beat Romney by 11 points with the Asian vote and 93% of African Americans voted for Obama
- He was the incumbent
- Why he shouldn't have won
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