Voter turnout in the 2012 election

Within a week of President Barack Obama’s election to his second term in office in 2012, the news media and political pundits found their narrative: the conservative wing of the Republican Party had dominated the primaries as well as the general campaign of Mitt Romney, whose campaign advisors and party strategists were simply out of touch with the demographics of the country and the political preferences of voters. Yet only one month prior to the election, the media and politicos were telling a different story: the election would be close, and the outcome would be especially dependent on voter turnout. If Obama was able to turn out his supporters (especially in battleground states) as he did in 2008, the race would tilt his way; if Romney was able to motivate his supporters, then it could tilt his way.