A reader writes:
Fred Bauer failed to account for the fact that 1994 was one of the strongest Republican years on record, as opposed to the basically neutral Congressional environments of 1988 and 2000.
Nobody denies that Romney was a better candidate, with or without his Bain baggage, than the roadkill Kennedy faced in his other election years. But Kennedy was considered reasonably vulnerable at points during that 94 race. Couldn’t the fact that he ultimately managed a 17 point margin win over a young, good-looking, intelligent, moderate candidate illustrate that his Bain strategy actually worked very well?
To credit the reduced margin of the ’94 victory purely to Romney’s strength as a candidate is very naïve. And extrapolating those ten (!) points towards “Obama’s margin” is absolutely ridiculous.
Another reader adds:
The democrats lost eight Senate seats that year. In Virginia, Oliver North would have won a seat if an independent candidate hadn't taken 11% of the vote. The fact that Kennedy still beat Romney in 1994, and by that much, shows how weak Romney is — as does the fact that if Romney had run for re-election as Governor, he would have lost.
The Dish 