The conventional wisdom was that winning independents was the key to victory, and Mitt Romney’s campaign made a point of convincing them to vote Republican.
And they did (vote Republican).
The only problem? Many of these so-called independents only recently self-identified as independents. Before that they typically told pollsters they were Republicans—because that’s what they really are.
To summarize: Mitt Romney won more Republicans who won’t admit to themselves and/or pollsters that they are Republicans.
(I suppose you could call them INOs. Independents in name only.)
Which means Mitt didn’t really win the independent vote after all.
If Republicans Were Really Surprised by the Election Result, We Should Worry About Their Policies