Romney's Biggest Mistake

[Pericles]

Romney made the same mistake as Kerry in not defending himself from his opponent's attacks so letting Obama define him as an out of touch job killing elitist. Romney should have defined himself as a private sector whiz who has created thousands of jobs and can use that experience to restore America. Probably though,  given he really lost by 5.37% as that was the margin in the tipping point state, he would have needed bigger changes and changes in the fundamentals to win. He could have come much closer though and perhaps even won the popular vote.

[Pericles]

2016 proved that tough primaries don't matter. Donald Trump went through the most divisive GOP primary in decades, several of his opponents outright refused to endorse him or explictly said he was unfit to serve and much of the party still hadn't united behind Trump by November, but he won regardless. Obama also had a rough and divisive primary against Hillary Clinton in 2008, while McCain glided to victory in February, yet Obama crushed McCain in a landslide.