Read below what Mitt thinks caused his loss. It seems that he still doesn't get it!
Mitt Romney: Obama Won With 'Gifts' To Blacks, Hispanics, Young Voters While Bobby Jindal Absolutely Rejects Mitt Romney's 'Gifts' Explanation For Obama Victory
BY DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is telling top donors that President Barack Obama won re-election because of the "gifts" he had already provided to blacks, Hispanics and young voters and because of the president's effort to paint Romney as anti-immigrant.
"The president's campaign, if you will, focused on giving targeted groups a big gift," Romney said in a call to donors on Wednesday. "He made a big effort on small things."
Romney said his campaign, in contrast, had been about "big issues for the whole country." He said he faced problems as a candidate because he was "getting beat up" by the Obama campaign and that the debates allowed him to come back.
In the call, Romney didn't acknowledge any major missteps, such as his "47 percent" remarks widely viewed as denigrating nearly half of Americans, his lack of support for the auto bailout, his call for illegal immigrants to "self-deport," or his change in position on abortion, gun control and other issues. He also didn't address the success or failure of the campaign's strategy of focusing on the economy in the face of some improvement in employment and economic growth during the months leading up to Election Day.
Obama won the popular vote by about 3.5 million votes, or 3 percent, and won the Electoral College by a wide margin, 332-206 electoral votes. Exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks showed that Obama led Romney by 11 percentage points among women and won better than 7 of 10 Hispanic voters and more than 9 of 10 black voters.
Romney called his loss to Obama a disappointing result that he and his team had not expected, but he said he believed his team had run a superb campaign. He said he was trying to turn his thoughts to the future, "but, frankly, we're still so troubled by the past, it's hard to put together our plans for the future."
Romney's finance team organized the call to donors. The Los Angeles Times first reported Romney's remarks.
Among the "gifts" Romney cited were free health care "in perpetuity," which he said was highly motivational to black and Hispanic voters as well as for voters making $25,000 to $35,000 a year.
Romney also said the administration's promise to offer what he called "amnesty" to the children of illegal immigrants – what he termed "the so-called DREAM Act kids" – helped send Hispanics to the polls for Obama.
Young voters, Romney said, were motivated by the administration's plan for partial forgiveness of college loan interest and being able to remain on their parents' health insurance plans. Young women had an additional incentive to vote for Obama because of free contraception coverage under the president's health care plan, he said.
"I'm very sorry that we didn't win," he told donors. "I know that you expected to win. We expected to win. We were disappointed; we hadn't anticipated it."
Romney said he and his team were discussing how his donor group could remain connected and have an influence on the direction of the Republican Party and even the selection of a future nominee – "which, by the way, will not be me."
 |  | |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| ELECTORAL VOTES (270 TO WIN) | 332 | 206 |
OBAMA LEADING
OBAMA WON
ROMNEY LEADING
ROMNEY WON
Battleground States
Popular Vote
| OBAMA | ROMNEY | |
|---|---|---|
| TOTAL | 62,610,003 | 59,133,398 |
| PERCENT | 50.6% | 47.8% |
33 out of 100 seats are up for election. 51 are needed for a majority.
DEMOCRAT LEADING
DEMOCRAT WON
HOLDOVER
REPUBLICAN LEADING
REPUBLICAN WON
| DEMOCRATS* | REPUBLICANS | |
|---|---|---|
| CURRENT SENATE | 53 | 47 |
| SEATS GAINED OR LOST | +2 | -2 |
| NEW TOTAL | 55 | 45 |
* Includes two independent senators expected to caucus with the Democrats: Angus King (Maine) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.).
All 435 seats are up for election. 218 are needed for a majority.
DEMOCRAT LEADING
DEMOCRAT WON
REPUBLICAN LEADING
REPUBLICAN WON
| DEMOCRATS | REPUBLICANS | |
|---|---|---|
| SEATS WON | 197 | 234 |
Bobby Jindal: 'I Absolutely Reject' Mitt Romney's 'Gifts' Explanation For Obama Victory
The Huffington Post | By Mollie Reilly Posted: 11/14/2012 8:33 pm EST Updated: 11/14/2012 9:03 pm EST
Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) rebuffed Mitt Romney's claim that President Obama won reelection because of "gifts" to minorities and young voters, calling the statement "wrong."
"That is absolutely wrong," Jindal said at Wednesday's session of the annual Republican Governors Association meeting in Las Vegas, according to the Washington Examiner's Byron York. "I absolutely reject that notion."
“I don’t think that represents where we are as a party and where we’re going as a party," Jindal continued. “That has got to be one of the most fundamental takeaways from this election: If we’re going to continue to be a competitive party and win elections on the national stage and continue to fight for our conservative principles, we need two messages to get out loudly and clearly: One, we are fighting for 100 percent of the votes, and secondly, our policies benefit every American who wants to pursue the American dream. Period. No exceptions."
The New York Times reported Wednesday afternoon on Romney's comments, which he made during a conference call with his presidential campaign's national finance committee.
"With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest, was a big gift," Romney said. "Free contraceptives were very big with young college-aged women. And then, finally, Obamacare also made a difference for them, because as you know, anybody now 26 years of age and younger was now going to be part of their parents' plan, and that was a big gift to young people. They turned out in large numbers, a larger share in this election even than in 2008."
Romney also said that "free health care" was a "big plus" for Hispanic and African-American voters, who overwhelmingly supported the president in last week's election.
While Jindal actively campaigned for Romney during the general election, the Louisiana governor has recently issued pointed criticism on Romney's candidacy. In a Tuesday interview with The Huffington Post's Jon Ward, Jindal said Romney did little to inspire voters on his plan for the country.
"Mitt Romney is an honorable man. He's a good honest man. He deserves our respect, and our gratitude," Jindal said. "The reality of it, the campaign was too much about biography. It wasn't enough about a vision of where they wanted to take our country, and how they would do it ... The reality is people are not being inspired by a biography."
This post was updated to include more of Jindal's remarks.
