Romney Didn’t Lose Because He Shifted Too Far Right

Lynn Vavreck: “These three pieces of evidence — that Mr. Romney was thought to be no less conservative before the primaries than during or after them, that his average rating didn’t shift much at all during the entire year, and that he was ideologically closer to most voters than Mr. Obama — bust the myth that Republicans lost the 2012 election because of ideological shifts in the primaries.”

“Mr. Romney did not lose the 2012 election because he was too conservative for general-election voters — or even for those who call themselves independents. The data could not be clearer on this point.”