The 2012 Presidential Election
47%
Mitt Romney didn't know that he was being recorded when he revealed his belief that almost half the country, "are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what."
This was a defining moment in the election for the public, and we believe it's ultimately what most alienated Mitt from Main Street.
ROMNEY STYLE
URBAN DICTIONARY: Gangnam Style
1. A Korean song written by Korean singer Psy.
2. "Gangnam" means "south(nam) of the river(gang)" in Korean. In this song, the "river(gang)" is the Han River, which penetrates the City of Seoul, capital of South Korea. The northern part of Seoul(gangbuk) has been the capital of Korea since the early 15th century. Development of Gangnam and expansion of Seoul started in 1970s. Gangnam is the icon of the rapid economic development of South Korea in 1970s and 80s. Mostly benefited from skyrocketing real estate price followed by planned economic development, Gangnam has become the most wealthy area in the entire South Korea. "Gangnam" is being regarded as the place where people are rich, girls are pretty and everything is supposed to be cool.
"I'm not rich enough to have fun in Gangnam Style."
Thanks to the stickiness of the 2011 Occupy 1% meme, Mitt's wealth worked against him in this election.
BINDERS FULL OF WOMEN
Within moments of Romney saying BINDERS FULL OF WOMEN in response to a question about gender equality during the second presidential debate, there was a #bindersfullofwomen boom and Facebook page with thousands of fans.
This clip includes the question, President Obama's answer, and Mitt Romney's answer:
See the hillarious Mashable round-up, which includes this HEY GIRL ...
BIG BIRD
It's hard to believe that Mitt Romney or anyone on his staff thought it was a good idea to use Big Bird as a way to talk about where to save money in the budget. But they did,
VULTURE CAPITALISM
This is courtesy of the Republican debates, Romney opponent Rick Perry painted him as the kind of bussiness man we'd hate to have running the country, due to his record at Bain Capital.
RAPE
And then there was the Republican meme-fest defending "legitamate rape" etc. The women's movement put these comments in the context of a larger right wing"War on Women." Romney had nothing to say about this - further adding to the case against his character.
ROMNESIA
What does every good story have? Strong characters you love, strong characters you despise. The same is true for story-based strategy. That's why Obama's ROMNESIA was brilliant - a meme that clearly evokes his opponent as a guy who can't be trusted to remember his promises. ROMNESIA became the news, and social media exploded.
Did it work? Well you know it did. The campaign rolled this out after the second debate, when the president was re-gaining some wind in his sails. But this Reuters lead paragraph was just what the campaign needed back in October:
President Barack Obama turned his rival's name into an ailment on Friday, accusing Mitt Romney of suffering from "Romnesia" for emphasizing moderate positions rather than the conservative ones he put forward in the Republican primary race.
Urban dictionary defines Romnesia:
To flip-flop.
To black out.
If you say you're for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you'd sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work -- you might have Romnesia.