2012 US presidential election (Romney/Rubio 2012)

The United States presidential election of 2012 was held on November 6, 2012. It was the 57th consecutive quadrennial United States presidential election and was a contest between the incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Former Massachusetts Governor. As the incumbent president, Obama secured the Democratic nomination with no serious opposition. The Republican Party was more fractured; Mitt Romney was consistently competitive in the polls, but faced challenges from a number of more conservative challengers whose popularity each fluctuated, often besting Romney's. Romney effectively secured the nomination by early May as the economy improved, albeit at a persistently laggard rate. The campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising, including from new nominally independent Super PAC's. The campaigns focused heavily on domestic issues: debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession in terms of economic recovery and job creation (unemployment dropped to 8%). Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, the future of social insurance programs, and the Affordable Care Act. Foreign policy was also discussed including the phase out of the Iraq War, the size of and spending on the military, and appropriate counteractions to terrorism.

Democratic Party presidential primaries: Candidate: •    Barack Obama, president of the United States since 2009 Eligible for a second term, President Obama meets no opposition to gain the Democratic nomination. He wins all the 50 states and all the 2286 delegates. Results: Barack Obama: 50 states + DC, 2286 delegates, 98, 5% of the popular vote

Republican Party presidential primaries: Candidates: •    Mitt Romney, Former Governor of Massachussets •    Rick Santorum, Former Senator of Pennsylvania •    Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House from Georgia •    Ron Paul, Representative from Texas In 2011, many Republicans announced their candidacy to challenge President Obama in 2012. To obtain the nomination, a candidate must accumulate 1144 delegates. Four years after his loss to John McCain during the primaries of 2008 in second position, Mitt Romney, Former Governor of Massachussets and former director of Bain Capital, enters into the race. His main challengers are Rick Santorum, Former Senator of Pennsylvania, Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House and Ron Paul, Representative from Texas. During the primaries, Romney is the favorite candidate to win the Republican nomination. With the economy as one of the main issues of the contest, he puts foward his experience in business and in economy. Some of his opponents were attacking him for being too moderate to lead the party. In response, Mitt Romney broadcasts an ad remembering his conservative message during the 2008 Republican National Convention which he said «We need a change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington!». This ad allows him to gain more support among conservative voters. On January 3rd, Romney narrowly wins Iowa with 26% of the popular vote over Santorum who gains 24, 4% of the vote. Then he gains 14 delegates on 28. After winning New Hampshire and South Carolina, Romney is seems unstopable. Before the primaries held in Arizona and Michigan, he attacks Rick Santorum  for «not caring about the 23 million Americans unemployed» and promises to revive the car industries. This allows Romney to win both Arizona and Michigan. On Super Tuesday held on March 6th, 10 states scheduled their primaries and Mitt Romney wins 9 of these states. The same day in Georgia, the conservative vote was divided beween Romney, Santorum and Gingrich. So Newt Gingrich loses his own home state to Mitt Romney and drops out. After Romney wins Illinois, Santorum made the same decision than Gingrich and endorses the Governor of Massachussets. With his victory in North Carolina, Romney accumulated the required number of delegates to win the candidacy of the Republican Party. He won 48 states, 1848 delegates and 58% of the popular vote. Knowing that Hispanics are the most expansive ethny in the United States and that it would be one of the most important keys of an electoral victory, Mitt Romney selects Marco Rubio as his running mate. This choice will help Romney to gain the Hispanic vote, the young vote and the conservative vote. Results: Mitt Romney: 1848 delegates, 48 states, 58% of the popular vote Rick Santorum: 176 delegates, 2 states, 22% of the popular vote Ron Paul: 87 delegates, 0 state, 10% of the popular vote Newt Gingrich: 64 delegates, 0 state, 9% of the popular vote

Presidential campaign: During all the campaign, Mitt Romney attacks President Obama of being weak in economy and being unable to react to the Syrian Civil War and to the threat of a nuclear Iran. Romney promises to grow the economy by reinforcing the trade and the oil' exploitation, protecting the interests of the American companies, cutting taxes, creating new labor with immigration and giving more choices of schools for the students. The GOP candidate also promises to compete with China to allow the United States of America to keep his economic hegemony. He also wants to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapon and arm the Syrian rebellion to give it a war effort. Barack Obama's campaign is handicapped by the Great Recession and the Benghazi attack in the American embassy. Romney makesan excellent performence during all the three presidential debates. In October, he leads Obama in almost all the polls. The election is scheduled on November 6th 2012. Mitt Romney wins the election with 363 great electors, 33 states and 52% of the popular vote against 175 great electors, 17 states and 46% of the popular vote. By choosing Marco Rubio as his running mate, Romney wins 55% of the Hispanic vote. Mitt Romney is inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States of America on January 20th 2013. He becomes the first mormon in this post. Marco Rubio becomes his vice-president.