2012
Barack Obama and the 2012 map
Obama won re-election over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney despite high unemployment and slow economic recovery from the 2008 crash. The Obama campaign's sophisticated data analytics and ground game proved decisive, turning out supporters in key swing states. Romney's '47 percent' comment (secretly recorded at a private fundraiser) damaged his image as caring only for the wealthy. Sandy, the superstorm, struck a week before the election, giving Obama a bipartisan moment with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie that reinforced his presidential image.
Economic recovery; Obamacare; auto bailout; income inequality ('47 percent')
Obama's data-driven campaign pioneered modern voter targeting; Romney's '47 percent' remark proved fatal
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