Paul Kengor: Romney Beats McCain!

Paul Kengor is professor of political science and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. He is author of the new book The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor. His other books include The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism and Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.

Shortly after the November election, I wrote a piece here titled, "McCain Beats Romney!" The article focused on initial reports showing that Mitt Romney received fewer votes in 2012 than John McCain received in 2008. That utterly depressing observation shocked conservatives.

How many fewer votes? It looked like Romney got 2-3 million less votes than McCain. I wrote at the time: "Additional votes are still coming in, but, as of the time of my writing, Romney received around 57.8 million votes in 2012. In 2008, John McCain received 59.9 million. Romney got over 2 million less votes than McCain."

More votes remained out there. Nonetheless, when the final count was tallied, I figured that Romney would still receive fewer votes than McCain.

Well, the final count is alas approaching, chronicled by the 2012 National Popular Vote Tracker, maintained by David Wasserman. And it has a rare flicker of good news for Mitt Romney: He has surpassed John McCain's 2008 vote total....