218 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS
Many Republican candidates ran on platforms emphasizing the need to reduce
government spending and regulations, generally citing the repeal of President
Obama’s health care reforms as a central priority. Debates about the federal budget
defi cit were also signifi cant. However, while virtually all candidates argued that
something needed to be done about the defi cit, very few were willing to commit to
the painful policy changes that would be needed to deal with the problem. Social
issues such as gay marriage were not often mentioned during the campaign—
perhaps due to poll results that show a solid majority of Americans are not opposed
to changes that would give gay and lesbian couples some form of marriage rights.
One diff erence between 2012 and the previous few elections was that inter-
national confl icts, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, were not central
issues in the campaign, both because of the withdrawal of American ground forces
from Iraq and the gradual drawdown of forces from Afghanistan and because of
the Obama administration’s successes in the war on terror and the NATO opera-
tion in Libya.
In sum, while many issues arose during the 2012 campaign, none of them gave
Republican or Democratic candidates a solid advantage. Instead, victory or defeat
hinged on candidates’ personal characteristics, their campaign promises, and, for
incumbents, their record in offi ce. For example, President Obama’s approval rating
hovered near 50 percent throughout the campaign— showing that he was neither a
sure winner nor certain of defeat.THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
PROCESS AND CONVENTIONS
The Republican and Democratic presidential nomination campaigns were very
diff erent. On the Republican side, Mitt Romney was the front-runner from the
beginning of the race to the end, although he faced serious opposition for most ofROMNEY AND THE REPUBLICANS
criticized President Obama’s
handling of the economy, arguing
that voters should not give Obama
another four years. However, many
Americans seemed to hold Obama
only partly responsible for the
country’s economic problems.