Election Extravaganza: Discover the Top 8 Amusing Facts from the 2012 Presidential Race!

1. Romney's Woman and Youth Boom

Talk about a RomNey-sance: In the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney made remarkable strides with two key voter demographics - women and younger voters - by overcoming an 18 point deficit among women to reach a level playing field with Barack Obama, and boosting his favorability among the bright-eyed youth from 43% to 51%.
Source => pewresearch.org

2. TV Ad Cash Splash

In 2012, presidential candidates threw cash at the TV screen like they were trying to make it rain in the club of democracy, and battleground states were dancing under the downpour: The campaigns, along with their allies, spent millions on TV ads, targeting mostly Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, while Iowa, Nevada, Colorado, and North Carolina received a lighter "sprinkling" due to cheaper airtime in smaller population areas.
Source => washingtonpost.com

Did you know that the Electoral College has been subject to over 700 proposals for reform or elimination in the past 200 years? Discover the heated debate between experts and why it's still around today.

=> Fun Facts about The-Electoral-College

3. Romney's Binders Full of Women Meme

In a riveting tale of how Mitt Romney caught them all — Pokémon-style — but with qualified female job candidates instead of pocket monsters: The 2012 presidential hopeful inadvertently created an internet meme when he spoke about having "binders full of women," resulting in everything from snarky Tumblr blogs and sarcastic Amazon reviews, to a bizarre online game where players were tasked with catching women falling from the sky using Romney's trusty binder.
Source => finance.yahoo.com

4. Astronauts Voting from Space

Houston, we have a ballot: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been casting their presidential votes since 2004 using a secure digital ballot system that's emailed back to Earth, with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins even having voted from space in 2016 and 2020.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

5. Big Bird's Sesame Street Scandal

In a flap of Sesame Street proportions, Muppet-extraordinaire Big Bird found himself at the epicenter of a viral kerfuffle thanks to a certain presidential hopeful's feather-brained funding cut suggestion: During the first debate of the 2012 election, Mitt Romney declared his intent to slash funds for PBS, inadvertently ruffling many a feather by thrusting the iconic yellow giant into a social media whirlwind, with Twitter trends and spoof accounts like @firedbigbird popping up in response to his perceived attack on the beloved children's program.
Source => washingtonpost.com

6. Obama and Romney's Billion-Dollar Battle

In a fierce battle that would make even the Avengers blush, two mighty contestants of the political realm, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, went toe-to-toe in 2012 wielding not just their wits, but an eye-watering, wallet-emptying amount of greenbacks: In the 2012 presidential election, the dynamic duo raised a staggering $1.12 billion for their campaigns, not including additional funds from parties or outside groups, bringing the overall cost of the election to $2.6 billion.
Source => opensecrets.org

7. Head-Tattooed Romney Superfan

Talk about a permanent case of buyer's remorse: In the 2012 election, Indiana man Eric Hartsburg auctioned off space on the side of his head for $15,000 to tattoo the Mitt Romney campaign logo, ultimately choosing an anonymous Republican eBay user's offer over a lewd highest bid, and later sold space on his forehead for $5,000 to further promote GOP values and inspire young voters.
Source => abcnews.go.com

8. Obama's Small Donor Army

When the going gets tough, the tough get going... to the polls! Little David didn't just take down mighty Goliath with a slingshot, but it seems some small donations can make a gigantic impact: In the 2012 election, President Obama had nearly 3 million small donors contributing $200 or less, far surpassing Mitt Romney's wealthy donors and showcasing their enthusiasm by volunteering on Election Day, knocking on doors, making phone calls, and driving voters to the polls.
Source => washingtonpost.com