Ohio Democratic party Chairman Chris Redfern said he believes President Obama’s bailout of the auto industry was a major factor in why Ohioans voted to re-elect him. When asked whether the Republicans lost because they have become too closely aligned with the most conservative members of the party, Redfern responds this way:
REDFERN: "The Republican party has spent the better part of the last three years kissing the behind of the tea party."
Meanwhile, Romney supporters expressed disappointment with his loss. Mike Dawson had a different explanation for Obama’s victory -- more of a demographic one:
DAWSON: "Romney did not perform well enough in the small and medium sized counties. He performed two or three points less than Bush did in 2004 in a whole number of counties and that’s what cost him the victory. And also you can see in the auto bailout counties."
Dawson was talking there about republican counties in Northwest Ohio, surrounding the Toledo area, where President Obama did better than expected. The president had campaigned heavily in Ohio on his support for the federal auto industry bailout and on Ohio’s unemployment rate, which had dropped from 10.6 percent to 7 percent.
