(CNN) -- It took until the presidential campaign was over, but Mitt Romney finally figured out the sinister plan Barack Obama executed to win re-election. Here's how it worked: During his first term, Obama craftily carried out policies that helped improve Americans' lives, thereby tricking them into voting to re-elect him. Diabolical! OK, that wasn't exactly how he put it. But in a conference call with his major donors after the campaign ended, Romney attributed his loss to the fact that Obama gave "gifts" to various groups to win their loyalty. Young people, women, Latinos, African-Americans, all voted for Obama because he showered them with presents, he concluded.
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Paul Waldman: Romney now sees Obama won by diabolically helping voters with policies
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He says Romney told donors these "gifts" aimed at blacks, Hispanics, women, young
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Waldman: This idea not new from the right -- tax breaks not "gifts," but public benefits are
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Waldman: Election actually revealed this disconnect, and voters showed they didn't buy it
Which brings us back to the word @placeholder used over and over on that phone call: "gift."