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How President Obama won a second term

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    A divided country gives the incumbent another chance

  • Duration 7:06
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Welcome to The Journal Editorial Report I'm -- if you -- divided country gave President Obama a second chance on Tuesday handing him a narrower.

But still decisive win over Republican rival network here with a look at how he did it.

Wall Street Journal columnist and deputy editor Dan and anger political diary editor Jason Riley and Washington columnist Kim -- also.

-- let me start with you -- -- when you get a defeat like this.

Yeah there's no one thing necessarily that explains it.

But why don't you pick out you war most important.

But I think there were two things heat to the Obama victory one was that.

Very early on that they ran very high dollar attack campaign against Mitt Romney and -- of the character assassination.

Is -- throughout the summer.

That Romney never really responded to and in fact we now know he didn't really ever recover from it.

When you combine that with -- was a presence brutally efficient we now know turnout operation and in particular in a few.

Core states like Ohio Virginia.

And Florida when you look at the popular vote there pretty close in the end but in the end he got out his partisans in much the same numbers as he did in 2000 and make and -- -- one so.

So so -- you're saying that that was about a hundred million dollars or more that the Obama campaign poured on Mitt Romney on Bain Capital on his tax returns on the fact that he's a -- Democrats sort of making him out to be.

Gordon -- without the social conscience.

-- and Romney's campaign you in your view do you would you agree that they made a fatal strategic mistake.

In not countering that though those attack it.

I think it was the mistake and there was that a belief in the Romney campaign that somehow you were responding.

You were losing.

But in fact by sitting back not -- -- one of the problems they didn't have a lot of money this was still the primary season they had been opened up to the general campaign dollars yet.

The vice sitting back and they did allow the president to brand and that way when you look at the exit poll numbers and some of these questions people last.

That was certainly the impression that have been left with lots of them out.

There Jason Riley Kim told me I remember in August that they didn't feel they have enough money to respond at the time to make either upon both a positive end to defensive.

Message to those ads so they want with a positive one here's what Romney will do on day one.

I also think that that that attack those attacks had a kind of voter suppression compact on some of these lower middle class.

Voters in some of these areas which explains maybe in part.

Ohio and why Romney didn't even get the same number of vote 222 million votes to an athlete of those.

Lower than John McCain.

I think what stands -- about Obama's victory to me is how quickly this -- identity politics on steroids.

-- telling black people Republicans want to take away that right to vote telling women there's a war on.

Telling seniors that Paul Ryan wants to push -- off the cliff.

In a wheelchair I mean this was real this is not the hope and change Obama this was not that there's no red state blue state Obama he won.

Ugly it's divisive and -- this is the template.

For how.

Democrats want to win elections point -- does that.

-- -- -- play tonight I can tell you what the reaction in the White House would be if they heard you say that they would say who get over it grow up this is politics Republicans got him you know put on there -- -- boxing gloves and and get over it -- in fact this is that says so what you know I.

-- I -- you know.

Suck it up.

I agree.

This is the new -- market -- -- a presidential campaign.

Don't question about it it's too bad but that's the latest now I want to elaborate on one of Kim's point.

Points about the brutally efficient Obama turnout machine this turnout machine did not materialize after the convention in August now.

That we need to have -- a lot more attention to the so called Obama ground game it's in some ways to fit me or try to talk about this and neutral terms it's somewhat.

And not analogous to the corporation's marketing campaign for a new product and they don't just do -- overnight.

Obama kept offices open after the 2008 campaign in Iowa in Ohio.

In Florida and Virginia these people were working full time and they were targeting campuses and they -- attack targeting.

Minority neighborhoods and their target groups and they were feeding you got to give credit so that -- -- I am giving them credit for that but you have to understand.

That Obama's policies on things of the sort that Jason was just.

But describing was essentially a propaganda campaign to drive these voters away from the Republicans in -- did it by sending them emails every week by talking to them by holding meetings and by literally physically taking them.

To the poll but why when Romney was saying there were Republicans were saying look the we're going to be able to match that -- you know that they were telling you they had the they had a ground game that was every bit as formidable and in the end.

Not only do they not match Obama they -- even -- John McCain they fell short of John McCain by a couple million votes.

So -- what happened yet.

I -- I think their organizational structure was someplace but this again to gets to the way mr.

Romney ran his campaign somebody.

Made it interesting point -- me this week and said.

You know it in the very end he wasn't losing big crowds the problem was that he wasn't losing those people who should have been with them from the start.

-- -- didn't have the time we finally turned after that Denver debate finally got some momentum.

It wasn't enough time to bring in all of those undecided voters the people.

That -- sort of marginal in the end because he spent so much of this time that campaign instead letting Obama define him and deciding to run a referendum campaign on the president what about that the minority vote to Asians Hispanics.

Jason they went to even bigger numbers for President Obama -- -- four years ago.

Oh sure I mean that's he he he got particularly -- There were more of them.

They may have larger percentage of the electorate and he won more I mean that was that may have been the key particularly in those swing states in the mountain west that.

That George W.

Bush did so well and Colorado is there I was your Nevada you're in Mexico's.

Romney didn't play up.

Just to give you a sense of the magnitude they were 8% to Hispanics of the vote in 2008 or 10% this year and Romney -- share went from.

Republican share went to 27 from 31.

And the Romney campaign thought they needed 37%.

Of that Hispanic vote for their numbers to win and -- got 27%.

The arithmetic on the Latino vote is just.

Brutal and obvious they have to do something about that quickly Jason.

I wanted to make one more point about the type of campaign Romney is not Romney will -- he focused on the economy he he wanted to make -- the Obama.

Economy yes but he woke up Wednesday morning and probably some exit poll figure that just had him devastated which is that.

For people.

50%.

Of the electorate.

Still thought this economy was George W Bush's fault -- -- -- it is capsule is and that's who just have one of the failures was not making a distinction.

In the campaign -- thematic explanation why he would be different than George W.

Bush.

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