2012 United States Senate elections, Washington
Incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell won re-election to a third term in a landslide.


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin won re-election to a first full term.


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Robert Byrd held this seat in the U.S. Senate since 1959, after having served in the House of Representatives since 1953, making him the longest-serving person in Congress. Byrd led his party in the Senate from 1977 to 1989, as Majority Leader or Minority Leader. Afterward, as the most senior Democrat in the Senate, he served as President pro tempore of the Senate whenever his party was in the majority, including at the time of his death.


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
After Byrd's death, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant initially announced that a special election would be held the same day as the regular election for the six-year term. However, that special election was rescheduled to 2010 for it to coincide with the 2010 mid-term elections. Governor Joe Manchin made a temporary appointment of Carte Goodwin to the vacant seat. Goodwin was later replaced by Manchin who won the 2010 special election.


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Raese filed a rematch against Manchin, arguing that he now had more material to criticize Manchin for. One example is how Manchin lost his long-time endorsement from West Virginians for Life because of his vote against defunding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. Another example is how he is undecided about whether or not to support Obama's re-election campaign. Senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod commented in response, "His concern is about his own political well-being." In addition, he voted against U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan's Republican budget.


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Raese wrote an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette saying about Manchin, "Yes, he'll talk like a conservative and act like he's fiscally responsible to appeal to more moderate voters, but under that outward appearance of a lovable rube is the heart of a tax-and-spend liberal."


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Raese continued to make controversial statements. In April 2012, he equated smoking bans with Adolf Hitler's yellow badge. He said "in Monongalia County now, I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke-free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. Okay? Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody's lapel, remember that? Same thing." That same day, he referred to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "Fidel Roosevelt."


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Raese didn't apologize for his statements on Hitler saying "I am not going to be intimidated by a bunch of bullshit. I'm not apologizing to anybody or any organization. It's my perfect right to make a speech about meaningful subject matters in this country." He also called rocker Ted Nugent a "patriot" for criticizing President Barack Obama.


2012 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party from the previous (special) election. Neither the vote shares nor the turnout figure account for write-ins. Turnout percentage is the portion of registered voters (1,234,367 as of January 10, 2012) who voted.


2012 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
Incumbent Democrat Herb Kohl retired instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district ran unopposed for her party's nomination. The Republican nominee was former Governor of Wisconsin and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who won with a plurality in a four-way race. In the general election, Baldwin defeated Thompson and won the open seat. She became the first woman elected to represent Wisconsin in the Senate and the first openly gay U.S. senator in history. This is also the first time Thompson lost a statewide race.


2012 United States Senate elections, Wyoming
Incumbent Republican John Barrasso won re-election to a first full term.


2012 United States Senate elections, Wyoming
Republican state senator John Barrasso was appointed to the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2007, by then-governor Dave Freudenthal after U.S. senator Craig Thomas died on June 4, 2007. John Barrasso defeated Nick Carter with 73.4% of the vote in the 2008 special U.S. senatorial election to serve the remainder of the senatorial term. Barrasso remained highly popular in the state with 69% of voters approving of him.


2012 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia
The 2012 Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia took place on November 6, 2012, to elect a shadow member to the United States House of Representatives to represent the District of Columbia. Unlike non-voting delegates, the Shadow Representative is only recognized by the District of Columbia and is not officially sworn or seated. Incumbent Shadow Representative Mike Panetta declined to run for a fourth term. Nate Bennett-Fleming was elected in his place.


2012 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Other primaries
Republican and Statehood Green primaries were held but no candidates appeared on the ballot.


2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia
The 2012 United States Senate election in the District of Columbia took place on November 6, 2012, to elect a shadow member to the United States Senate to represent the District of Columbia. The member is only recognized by the District of Columbia and is not officially sworn or seated by the United States Senate. Incumbent Mike Brown was re-elected to a second term as the Democratic nominee.


2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections
Party primaries took place on April 3, 2012. Democrat Mike Brown, the incumbent shadow senator, won his party's primary by defeating challenger Pete Ross, and D.C. Statehood Green candidate David Schwartzman won his party's primary with a write-in campaign. Republican candidate Nelson Rimensnyder was unopposed in his party's primary.


2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
Ross' campaign was largely self-funded. He gave over $200,000 of his own money to his campaign. This was a stark contrast to incumbent Senator Brown, who loaned his campaign only $1,200 with the rest of his much smaller budget composed of small donations from city residents. Brown derisively referred to Ross' warchest as "[a] felons riches"


2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
In December 2011, four months prior to the primary election, Ross was one of four people arrested for blocking traffic on Constitution Avenue during a demonstration for statehood. On March 13, 2012, just a month before the primary, Ross went to court for sentencing and appeared before Judge Elizabeth Wingo. During his hearing, Ross requested to be given jail time instead of the probation usually given to people facing similar charges. Faced with an unusual situation, Wingo postponed judgement for two days.


2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
Before the second hearing on March 15, Wingo was called by Brown, who warned the judge that Ross was using his time in court and request for jail time as a political statement. Wingo informed Brown that his call was inappropriate and proceeded to hand the case off to another judge.


2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
On the 15th, Ross appeared before Judge Fredrick J. Sullivan. A government prosecutor present said he opposed giving jail time yet Ross continued to ask for jail time. Sullivan attempted to dissuade Ross from going to jail and at one point said “It’s not a pleasant place over there,” Ross was unswayed and was ultimately sentenced to one day in jail and a $50 fine. Ross spent six hours in jail and was released at 10:00 pm. Though arrests of pro-statehood protesters are common in DC, Ross is the only person known to be jailed for protesting in favor of statehood.


2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
During the campaign, several major revelations of financial wrongdoing came out. It emerged that in 2007, Pete Ross had failed to remit $203,000 in payroll taxes which led to an IRS investigation. Ross hid assets from the IRS and eventually pleaded guilty to a felony tax evasion charge. As a result he spent 90 days in a halfway house. On this issue, Senator Brown said "I’m all about redemption, too, but a guy with this kind of record can’t go up to Capitol Hill" Additionally, it was revealed that Ross owed $441,734 in unpaid sales tax, interest, and penalties to the DC government.


2012 United States Virgin Islands general election
The United States Virgin Islands general election was held on 6 November 2012. Voters chose the non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives, the Board of Education, the Board of Elections, and all fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands.


2012 United States Virgin Islands hemp referendum
A referendum on the use of industrial hemp was held in the United States Virgin Islands on 6 November 2012, alongside general elections. The proposal was approved by 57% of voters.


2012 United States Virgin Islands hemp referendum, Background
On 21 August 2012 the Legislature of the Virgin Islands voted by 10–4 to pass a law on the use of industrial hemp (hemp with a low tetrahydrocannabinol content). Governor John de Jongh signed it into law on 11 September 2012.


2012 United States Virgin Islands hemp referendum, Results
Are you in favor of the Legislature enacting legislation that allows for the production, processing, manufacturing and distributing of industrial hemp in the Virgin Islands?


2012 United States Virgin Islands hemp referendum, Results
The unusually high number of blank votes was caused by the question being on the same ballot paper as the simultaneous general elections.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship
The 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship took place from February 11 to 18 at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pennsylvania (with the host city being listed as Philadelphia). It was held in conjunction with the 2012 United States Men's Curling Championship. The winning team, skipped by Allison Pottinger, will represent the United States at the 2012 Ford World Women's Curling Championship in Lethbridge, Alberta. The first and second placed teams, skipped respectively by Allison Pottinger and Cassandra Potter, earned qualification spots to the 2014 United States Olympic Curling Trials, which will determine the teams that will represent the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship, Road to the Nationals
As with last year, teams qualified for the women's nationals by qualifying automatically through the World Curling Tour Order of Merit or through a challenge round. Four teams qualified via the Order of Merit, while six teams qualified via the challenge round. The challenge round was held in Marshfield, Wisconsin, where the teams that did not qualify directly via the Order of Merit competed for the final six spots in the nationals.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification
Qualification for the 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship took place in one round in January in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The number of entrants to the national championships was cut down to ten teams through a challenge round.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System
Teams qualified for the women's nationals either by qualifying automatically as one of the top four teams on the World Curling Tour Order of Merit or by qualifying through the challenge round. The four teams that qualified automatically to the championships, an increase from last year's two teams qualified through the Order of Merit, were chosen based on the Order of Merit upon the conclusion of the Curl Mesabi Cash Spiel. This year, the teams are those skipped by Erika Brown, Rebecca Hamilton, Patti Lank, and Alexandra Carlson. The other six spots in the nationals will be awarded through competition in the challenge round.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System
The challenge round was held with the double knockout provision in place. The double knockout provision states that a team is eliminated from qualifying for the nationals if the team has at least two losses in their win-loss record. If there are teams with less than two losses, they will play each other until the number of teams still able to qualify matches the number of qualification spots available.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System, Challenge Round
Since there are more than ten teams registered to the nationals this year, the teams that did not qualify directly for the nationals competed to earn one of six remaining spots in the nationals through the challenge round, which was held from January 19 to 22 in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The challenge round was held in a knockout format, as decided by the organizing committee. The teams that advanced from the challenge round were those skipped by Maureen Stolt, Cassandra Potter, Janice Langanke, Allison Pottinger, Aileen Sormunen, Kimberly Wapola.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Challenge Round
The challenge round was held from January 19 to 22 at the Marshfield Curling Club in Marshfield, Wisconsin. It was held in a triple knockout format. Teams skipped by Maureen Stolt, Cassandra Potter, Janice Langanke, Allison Pottinger, Aileen Sormunen, and Kimberly Wapola advanced to the Nationals.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Challenge Round, Participating Teams
The following is a list of all teams registered to participate in the regional qualifiers.


2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Challenge Round, Knockout Results, Draw 1
Team Ellig was unable to field four registered players to start the competition, by rule an automatic forfeit.


2012 United States elections
The 2012 United States elections took place on November 6, 2012. Democratic President Barack Obama won election to a second term, though the Republican Party retained control of the House of Representatives. As of 2020, this is the most recent election cycle in which neither the presidency nor a chamber of Congress changed partisan control.


2012 United States elections
Obama defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney to win a second term, taking 51.1 percent of the popular vote and 332 of the 538 electoral votes. Romney defeated Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and several other candidates to win his party's nomination in the 2012 Republican primaries.


2012 United States elections
Democrats won a net gain of two Senate seats, retaining control of the chamber. In the first election held in the House of Representatives since the round of redistricting following the 2010 United States Census, Democrats picked up eight seats but failed to gain a majority, despite winning the popular vote. In the gubernatorial elections, Republicans won a net gain of one seat. As of 2020, this is the last time that the winner of the presidential race provided coattails for their party in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.


2012 United States elections
Various other state, territorial, and local races and referenda were held throughout the year. Three state referenda passed legalizing same-sex marriage, while Minnesota became the first state in history to reject a proposed state-level constitutional ban of same sex marriage. Two states approved and one rejected the legalization of recreational marijuana, and one more state voted to legalize marijuana for medical use. A referendum was also held in Puerto Rico regarding the future political status of the U.S. unincorporated territory. Following the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, the 2012 election season became the most expensive in American history.


2012 United States elections, Issues
Despite various issues during this election cycle, ultimately little overall change occurred on both the Federal and the gubernatorial level.


2012 United States elections, Issues, Unresolved issues from 2008 and 2010
Many of the major issues of the 2012 election were the same as in both 2008 and 2010. Candidates and voters in 2012 were again focused on national economic conditions and jobs, record federal deficits, health care and the effects of the controversial Affordable Care Act, national security and terrorism, education, and energy.


2012 United States elections, Issues, Unresolved issues from 2008 and 2010
Immigration reform and the controversial Arizona Senate Bill 1070, passed by the state in 2010 to enhance the power of Arizona's law enforcement agencies to investigate the immigration status of suspected illegal immigrants, also remained important issues. On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court delivered its decision in Arizona v. United States, striking down three of the four provisions of Arizona's law.


2012 United States elections, Issues, Wisconsin collective bargaining dispute
In 2011, there were a series of demonstrations in Wisconsin, involving at its zenith as many as 100,000 protestors opposing the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also called the "Wisconsin budget repair bill." The legislation, passed by the Wisconsin Legislature on June 29, 2011, primarily impacted the following areas: collective bargaining, compensation, retirement, health insurance, and sick leave of the state's public sector employees.


2012 United States elections, Issues, Wisconsin collective bargaining dispute
These protests became a major driving force of multiple recall elections, including state senators in 2011 and 2012, Governor Scott Walker in 2012 and a contentious Wisconsin Supreme Court election in 2011.


2012 United States elections, Issues, Rape and pregnancy controversies and the "War on Women"
Starting in August 2012, a series of controversies occurred involving comments made by a number of socially conservative Republican candidates regarding issues regarding rape, pregnancy, and abortion, bringing these issues to the forefront. The first most notable was Republican House Representative Todd Akin of Missouri, who was the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat. He stated that pregnancy from rape rarely occurs as a result of what he referred to as "legitimate rape." Akin's comments had a far-reaching political impact, changing a focus of campaigns across the country onto the so-called "War on Women."


2012 United States elections, Issues, Rape and pregnancy controversies and the "War on Women"
Another widely covered comment was that of Indiana State Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who said that pregnancy from rape was "something that God intended". A number of observers later identified Mourdock's and Akin's comments as a principal factor in their respective election losses. The comments are also credited for having a larger national effect.


2012 United States elections, Issues, Benghazi attack
The major foreign policy controversy during the final weeks of the campaign was the September attack on the American diplomatic mission at Benghazi, Libya by a heavily armed group. Four people were killed, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, and ten others were injured. This was initially blamed on a series of protests and violent attacks began in response to a YouTube trailer for the controversial film Innocence of Muslims, considered blasphemous by many Muslims. According to critics, the consulate site should have been secured better both before and after the attack. Republicans further criticized the Obama administration's response to the attacks, ranging from accusations that they incorrectly attributed the role of anger over the film instead of suspecting it more as a coordinated attack by a terrorist group like al-Qaeda; to complaints with delays in the administration's investigation.


2012 United States elections, Federal elections, Presidential election
Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama was re-elected, defeating Republican former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. This was the first presidential election since the 2010 Census, which changed the Electoral College vote apportionment.


2012 United States elections, Federal elections, Presidential election
With the advantage of incumbency, Obama faced no major challengers in the Democratic Party primaries. Several candidates competed in the Republican Party primaries; by late April, Romney, a former Governor of Massachusetts, was declared the presumptive Republican nominee. Among the third party candidates, former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson was the Libertarian Party nominee, Jill Stein was the Green Party nominee, former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 5th congressional district Virgil Goode was the Constitution Party nominee, and former Mayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson was the Justice Party nominee.


2012 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, Senate elections
The 33 seats of Class I of the United States Senate were up for election. Democrats were expected to have 23 seats up for election, including 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats, while Republicans were only expected to have 10 seats up for election. The Democrats ended up retaining majority control of the Senate, picking up two net seats. One of the Democratic winners was Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin, who became the first openly LGBT member of the US Senate.


2012 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, House of Representatives elections
This was the first congressional election using the congressional districts that were apportioned based on the 2010 Census. Elections were held for all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Elections were also held for the delegates from the District of Columbia and five major U.S. territories. Although House Democrats won a plurality of the popular vote (48.8% vs 47.6%), House Republicans were still able to retain a 234 to 201 seat majority.


2012 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, House of Representatives elections
A special election in Oregon's 1st congressional district was held on January 31 to determine a replacement for David Wu, who resigned in August 2011. Another special election in Arizona's 8th congressional district was held on June 12 to elect the replacement of Gabby Giffords, who resigned in January 2012. The winners of these two special elections (Suzanne Bonamici from Oregon, Ron Barber from Arizona) both ran in attempts to keep their seats.


2012 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, House of Representatives elections
As a matter of convenience and cost saving, the special election in New Jersey's 10th congressional district and the special election in Michigan's 11th congressional district were held in conjunction with the regularly-scheduled general election on November 6, 2012. New Jersey congressman Donald M. Payne died in March 2012 while Michigan's Thaddeus McCotter resigned in July 2012. In both districts, voters were asked on the November ballot to select two candidates: one to serve the remainder of Payne or McCotter's term, respectively, and the other to serve their respective district's full 2-year term beginning in January 2013.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, Gubernatorial elections
12 state and two territory governorships were up for election. In addition, Scott Walker of Wisconsin survived a recall election on June 5. Only one state governorship changed hands: In North Carolina, Republican Pat McCrory was elected to replace the retiring Democratic Governor Bev Perdue.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, Gubernatorial elections
The territorial governorships of American Samoa and Puerto Rico were also up for election.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, Other statewide elections
In many states where if the following positions are elective offices, voters will cast votes for candidates for the state executive branch offices of Lieutenant Governor (though some will be voted for on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee), Secretary of state, state Treasurer, state Auditor, state Attorney General, state Superintendent of Education, Commissioners of Insurance, Agriculture, or Labor, etc., and state judicial branch offices (seats on state Supreme Courts and, in some states, state appellate courts).


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, State and territorial legislative elections
Many states across the nation held elections for their state legislatures. Ten chambers shifted party control, with seven turning Democratic while three(not including the de facto only control in the WA senate) turned Republican. Republicans had gained many chambers in the 2010 mid-term elections, and this was seen as a modest rebalancing.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, State and territorial legislative elections
The Colorado House, Maine Legislature, Minnesota Legislature and New Hampshire House had all flipped to Republican rule in 2010 elections, only to flip back to Democratic control in 2012. The Oregon House regained the democratic majority that it had lost in 2010 elections, which produced a 30-30 party split.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, State and territorial legislative elections
The transition in the Wisconsin Senate was notable since it undid a brief period of Democratic control following contentious recall efforts in 2011 and earlier in 2012. The Arkansas chambers had been under Democratic control since the end of the Reconstruction Era.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, Puerto Rican status referendum
A referendum regarding the political status of Puerto Rico was held. Puerto Rican voters were asked two questions: First, whether they prefer the status quo of remaining a U.S. unincorporated territory—a majority (54%), rejected the status quo. The second question asked whether they prefer statehood, independence or free association—a majority (61% of votes cast) supported statehood for Puerto Rico.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, Puerto Rican status referendum
However, one-third of all votes cast left the second question blank. Governor-elect Alejandro García Padilla, who had been critical of the process, then sent a message to President Obama, asking him to reject the results because of their ambiguity. On November 8, 2012, Washington, D.C. newspaper The Hill published an article saying that Congress will also likely ignore the results of the referendum due to the circumstances behind the votes.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, State and territory initiatives and referenda
Maine, Maryland and Washington approved same sex marriage by popular vote, the first time any states have done so, bringing the number of states that allow same sex marriage from 6 to 9 states. In Minnesota, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage was defeated, the first time such an amendment has not passed.


2012 United States elections, State and territorial elections, State and territory initiatives and referenda
A measure in Massachusetts resulted in that state becoming the 18th US state to allow medical cannabis. By ballot measure, voters in both Colorado and Washington chose to legalize cannabis outright, the first states to do so, whereas voters in Oregon chose to reject it.


2012 United States elections, Local elections
Nationwide, cities, counties, school boards, special districts and others held elections in 2012.


2012 United States elections, Local elections
Some of the major American cities that held mayoral elections in 2012 included:


2012 United States elections, Election financing
The 2012 election cycle was the first to be impacted by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions. The projected cost of the 2012 federal election races is estimated to be over 5.8 billion dollars,  with approximately $1 billion of that coming from "outside" groups (groups not directly controlled by the candidate's campaign or officially controlled by the party). During the elections there was much spending by the lobbies, particularly the fossil fuels lobby.


2012 United States elections, Table of federal and state results
Bold indicates a change in control. Note that not all states held gubernatorial, state legislative, and United States Senate elections in 2012.


2012 United States federal budget
The 2012 United States federal budget was the budget to fund government operations for the fiscal year 2012, which lasted from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The original spending request was issued by President Barack Obama in February 2011. That April, the Republican-held House of Representatives announced a competing plan, The Path to Prosperity, emboldened by a major victory in the 2010 Congressional elections associated with the Tea Party movement. The budget plans were both intended to focus on deficit reduction, but differed in their changes to taxation, entitlement programs, defense spending, and research funding.


2012 United States federal budget
The House resolution did not pass the Senate, nor did the Senate pass a resolution of their own, so there was no 2012 budget of record. The actual appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2012 included four continuing resolutions and three full-year appropriations bills enacted in November and December 2011, in accordance with the United States budget process. These appropriations were greatly affected by the Budget Control Act of 2011, passed in August 2011 as a resolution to the debt-ceiling crisis; it mandated budget cuts over a ten-year period beginning with Fiscal Year 2012. In addition, legislation was passed to extend a cut in the Social Security payroll tax for the entirety of calendar year 2012.


2012 United States federal budget
The government was initially funded through five temporary continuing resolutions. Final funding for the government was enacted as an omnibus spending bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, on December 23, 2011.


2012 United States federal budget, Background
In February 2010, President Obama formed the bipartisan Bowles–Simpson Commission to recommend steps that could be taken to reduce future budget deficits. The commission released its report on November 10, 2010, which recommended deep domestic and military spending cuts, reforming the tax system by eliminating many tax breaks in return for lower overall rates, and reducing benefits for Social Security and Medicare. The plan did not receive the supermajority vote within the commission which it needed to be directly sent to Congress, and portions of the plan were rejected by both parties.


2012 United States federal budget, Budget proposals
The Obama administration proposed its 2012 budget on February 14, 2011. It aimed to reduce annual deficits to more sustainable levels by making selective cuts in spending, while increasing support in specific areas such as education and clean energy to foster long-term economic growth. The plan did not contain specific proposals to rein in spending on entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, which were expected to make up much of the increase in the deficit in future years.


2012 United States federal budget, Budget proposals
The budget represented a shift from the Obama administration's strategy in previous years of using increased government spending, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to combat the late 2000s recession. The 2012 budget plan was instead projected to reduce deficits by $1.1 trillion over the next ten years. Republicans criticized the plan for not going far enough to reduce future deficits.


2012 United States federal budget, Budget proposals
A competing plan, called The Path to Prosperity, was announced by House Republicans, led by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan, on April 5, 2011. This plan would cut $5.8 trillion in spending over ten years, but would also reduce tax income by $4.2 trillion below current projections. The plan would make no further reduction in defense spending beyond the Obama administration's plan, but would make major changes to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, which was expected to pass more of the cost of these programs onto individuals. It would also cut energy research and other applied research and development.


2012 United States federal budget, Budget proposals
This plan was criticized by Democrats for disproportionately cutting programs which benefit the disadvantaged and stifling innovation, while not cutting defense spending further and containing deep tax cuts. The House Republican plan was defeated in the Senate by a margin of 40–57 votes on May 25, 2011, the same day that the Obama budget was also defeated.


2012 United States federal budget, Budget proposals
In response to the Republican plan and a recent deal on the 2011 budget, President Obama on April 13, 2011 presented an alternative plan in a major policy speech. This new plan would cut deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years through a combination of broad spending cuts and tax increases, including the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for incomes over $200,000 and proposed a cap on increases in Medicare and Medicaid spending, to be paid for by individuals.


2012 United States federal budget, Budget proposals
Obama criticized the Republican plan for enriching the wealthy through tax cuts while placing a greater economic burden on the elderly through Medicare cuts. Obama's plan was criticized by Republicans for its large cuts in defense spending and for its lack of specific detail. On June 23, at a hearing of the Budget Committee, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf was asked what his agency made of the proposals in that presidential address. “We don’t estimate speeches,” he said. “We need much more specificity than was provided in that speech."


2012 United States federal budget, Budget proposals
A motion to proceed on a Republican-sponsored bill meant to represent the original Obama administration budget proposal was defeated in the Senate by a margin of 0–97 votes on May 25, 2011; the lack of Democratic support was said to have been because the original budget had been superseded by Obama's April speech.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
A controversy arose in July 2011 over the raising of the federal debt limit, which was needed to prevent a default by the United States government. Republicans in Congress demanded spending cuts in the budgets for 2012 and subsequent years in return for raising the debt limit.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
On July 19, 2011, the Republican-led House passed a bill, the Cut, Cap and Balance Act, by a margin of 234–190 which would require $111 billion in cuts in 2012 spending levels, exempting defense, Medicare, and Social Security from these cuts, and would limit subsequent federal spending to about 20% of the gross national product as compared to the current 24%. It did not immediately increase the debt limit, but would have required Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution before increasing the debt limit.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
The bill was tabled by a vote of 51–46 in the Senate on July 22, and thus defeated. An alternate plan proposed by the bipartisan Gang of Six senators and favored by the Obama administration would contain about $3.7 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade, including both new revenue and large spending cuts, including in entitlement healthcare and defense, failed to gain traction.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
Two rival plans were then prepared by the Senate Democrats and House Republicans. The Democratic plan would immediately raise the debt limit by $2.7 trillion, enough to last beyond the 2012 elections, and would decrease spending by $900 billion over ten years.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
The Republican plan would cut a total of $850 billion over ten years, and would raise the debt limit in two stages: by $1 trillion immediately, enough to last until early 2012, and then would form a bipartisan committee to recommend the second half of the budget cuts, which upon being passed by Congress would increase the debt limit by another $1.6 trillion. Neither plan included revenue increases or cuts to entitlement programs. The vote on the Republican plan was delayed several times as more conservative members of the caucus refused to support it.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
After being altered to again require passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment before the second stage of debt limit increases, it passed the House 218–210, with 22 Republicans opposing the bill. It was defeated in the Senate two hours later by a vote of 59–41, as the Democratic plan was prepared to be taken up there.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
On July 31, 2011, President Obama and the leadership of both legislative chambers reached a deal on the debt limit legislation. The deal guaranteed $2.4 trillion in immediate and eventual debt limit increases. It mandated $917 billion in spending cuts over ten years, of which $21 billion would be included in the FY2012 budget.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Implications of debt limit deal
It would then give Congress a choice between either accepting the recommendation of a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction which would cut the deficit by $1.2–1.5 trillion through spending cuts and/or revenue increases, or accepting automatic budget cuts to national security funding (including defense spending) and to Medicare, which would start in the FY2013 budget. Congress would also be required to vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment. On August 1, the Budget Control Act of 2011 passed the House 269–161, with 66 Republicans and 95 Democrats voting against the bill. On August 2, it passed in the Senate 74–26, and was signed into law by President Obama the same day. August 2 was also the date estimated by the Department of the Treasury that the borrowing authority of the US would be exhausted.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Initial continuing resolutions and FEMA controversy
Because the federal budget legislation was not expected to be enacted by the September 30, 2011 deadline, work began on a continuing resolution to fund the government temporarily through November 18, 2011 with an across-the-board reduction of 1.503% below the 2011 budget levels. However, a dispute arose between the Republican-led House and the Democrat-led Senate over the amount of additional funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for costs associated with relief from Hurricane Irene, and whether this extra funding should be partially offset with cuts elsewhere.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Initial continuing resolutions and FEMA controversy
FEMA's disaster relief fund had $792 million remaining in it just prior to the hurricane's landfall in August 2011, which was below the $1 billion thresholds that caused FEMA to act under "immediate-needs status," delaying long-term projects in favor of urgent tasks. The proposed cuts targeted a program to fund development of fuel-efficient automobiles as well as the program that had guaranteed a loan to the recently bankrupt Solyndra corporation. The Senate rejection of the House bill on September 23, 2011 raised the possibility of a government shutdown on October 1.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Initial continuing resolutions and FEMA controversy
However, FEMA subsequently determined that the $114 million left in the fund as of late September would suffice for the final week of the fiscal year, and the fund would thus not in fact run out of money. This led to the Senate passing a pair of continuing resolutions on September 26: one lasting until October 4, 2011 to give the then-out-of-session House of Representatives time to consider the second resolution, which funded the government through the first seven weeks of the 2012 fiscal year, until November 18, 2011. The House passed the short-term resolution  on September 29, 2011 by unanimous consent in an unusual example of passing legislation during a pro forma session. After the House came back into normal session, the second continuing resolution was passed by a vote of 352–66 on October 4, 2011.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Appropriations legislation passed
On November 18, 2011, the first appropriations bill was enacted, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012. It combined the three appropriations bills for Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science (CJS), and Transportation/Housing and Urban Development (THUD), and also contained a continuing resolution providing funding for other departments until December 16, 2011.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Appropriations legislation passed
On December 15, 2011, a deal was reached on the remaining nine appropriations bills, which were combined into the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012. One point of contention was that an earlier draft of the bill supported by Republicans contained new restrictions on travel to Cuba, which had been relaxed by the Obama administration in 2009. These restrictions were removed in the enacted bill at the insistence of the Obama administration.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Appropriations legislation passed
A separate Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2012 was also included in the package, as well as a concurrent resolution which offset the increased disaster funding by imposing a 1.83% across-the-board spending cut to all discretionary programs except Defense and Veterans Affairs. Two more continuing resolutions were also passed, one extending the deadline by one day so that the Senate could vote on the package, and one until December 23, 2011. The two appropriations bills were enacted on December 23, 2011, but the concurrent resolution failed in the Senate.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Appropriations legislation passed
On December 17, 2011, the Senate passed legislation to extend the Social Security payroll tax cut which had been previously enacted during the FY2011 budget negotiations. That legislation had reduced the rate from 6.2% to 4.2% for the 2011 calendar year only. The initial 2012 extension was for two months, rather than the full-year extension which had been sought; the legislation also extended unemployment benefits as well as a measure preventing a drop in rates for Medicare reimbursement; the spending for these was offset by enacting new fees on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Appropriations legislation passed
Points of contention included a Democratic plan to fund the tax cut with a new surtax on income over $1 million, which was dropped in later stages of negotiation, as well as attempts by Republicans to insert language which would speed the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which had recently been delayed by the Obama administration. The bill was initially rejected in the House, whose leaders insisted on a full-year extension, despite the fact that the Senate had already adjourned for the year.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Appropriations legislation passed
However, after criticism from other Republicans that the impasse would harm their prospects in the upcoming 2012 elections, the House leadership on December 23, 2011 announced that it would pass the Senate bill in return for Democrats promptly beginning negotiations on a full-year extension. The bill, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, was passed by the House and signed by the President later that day.


2012 United States federal budget, Legislation, Appropriations legislation passed
The tax cut extension for the remainder of the year was passed as the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 on February 17, 2012, by a vote of 293–132 in the House and 60–36 in the Senate. The bill also contained a further extension of unemployment benefits and the Medicare reimbursement rates. The cost of the tax cut was not offset by spending cuts, but the other provisions were offset by cuts in federal healthcare and pension programs. Republican support for the bill was motivated by a desire to not oppose a tax cut in an election year. Some Democrats criticized the bill for directing spending cuts at federal employees rather than generating funds by increasing taxes on the wealthy or closing tax loopholes.


2012 United States federal budget, Major initiatives
The following provisions were enacted in the final budget legislation:


2012 United States federal budget, Total revenues and spending
The Obama administration's budget request contained $2.627 trillion in revenues and $3.729 trillion in outlays (expenditures) for 2012, for a deficit of $1.101 trillion. The April 2011 Republican plan contained $2.533 trillion in revenues and $3.529 trillion in outlays, for a deficit of $0.996 trillion. The enacted budget contained $2.469 trillion in receipts and $3.796 trillion in outlays, for a deficit of $1.327 trillion.


2012 United States federal budget, Total revenues and spending, Total outlays by agency
The Department of Defense budget is divided into two parts: the base budget, and Overseas Contingency Operations which includes the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections
The 2012 United States gubernatorial elections were held in 12 states (including a recall election in Wisconsin on June 5) and two territories. Of the eight Democratic and four Republican seats contested, only that of North Carolina changed party hands, giving the Republicans a net gain of one governorship. These elections (except for Wisconsin) coincided with the presidential election on November 6, 2012.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Race summary, Closest races
Red denotes states won by Republicans. Blue denotes states won by Democrats. Grey denotes states won by Independents.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Delaware
Governor Jack Markell ran for re-election. His Republican challenger was Jeff Cragg.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Indiana
Mike Pence, a six-term Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, announced his candidacy for his party's nomination. Pence, whose announcement was anticipated by his resignation of a leading position in the GOP caucus in the House, was regarded as the favorite for election. Indianapolis businessman and former Hamilton County Councilman Jim Wallace had announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination prior to Pence's entrance but failed to collect enough signatures to become an official candidate by the deadline in February 2012.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Indiana
Former state House Speaker John R. Gregg was unopposed for the Democratic Party's nomination.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Indiana
Former Survivor contestant and founder of the Rupert's Kids charity Rupert Boneham ran as the Libertarian Party candidate.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Indiana
Pence narrowly defeated Gregg with 49.9% of the vote to Gregg's 46.56%. Boneham received 3.95% of the vote.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Missouri
Dave Spence, a businessman from St. Louis, won the Republican nomination over attorney Bill Randles in the August 7, 2012 primary.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Missouri
Nixon eventually won the general election over Spence and Higgins.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Montana
The declared Democratic primary candidates were state Senator Larry Jent and state Attorney General Steve Bullock.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Montana
The declared Republican primary candidates included Chouteau County commissioner Jim O'Hara, former state Senators Corey Stapleton and Ken Miller, terrorism and national security analyst Neil Livingstone, former Congressman Rick Hill, and Truck driver Keith Winkler.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Montana
Steve Bullock and Rick Hill won their respective primaries. Bullock defeated Hill and Libertarian Ron Vandevender in the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, New Hampshire
Maggie Hassan, former Majority Leader of the New Hampshire State Senate, defeated former state senator Jackie Cilley and firefighter Bill Kennedy to become the Democratic nominee. Former Chairman of the New Hampshire Board of Education Ovide Lamontagne, who narrowly lost the Republican primary for Senate in 2010, defeated conservative activist and former state representative Kevin Smith and Bill Tarr to win the Republican nomination. Hassan eventually won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, New Hampshire
New Hampshire does not have a position of Lieutenant Governor.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, North Carolina
Potential Democratic candidates included Lt. Gov. Walter H. Dalton and state Rep. Bill Faison.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, North Carolina
Potential Republican candidates included former Mayor of Charlotte Pat McCrory (the 2008 Republican nominee for Governor); Nido Qubein, President of High Point University; Tom Fetzer, former Mayor of Raleigh; and former state Senator Fred Smith.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, North Carolina
Dalton and McCrory won their respective primaries, and McCrory eventually won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, North Dakota
Governor Jack Dalrymple succeeded John Hoeven after the latter was elected Senator and ran for a full term in 2012. Drew Wrigley was his running mate. Dalrymple defeated architect Paul Sorum for the nomination.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, North Dakota
State Senate Minority leader Ryan Taylor was the Democratic nominee. Ellen Chaffee was his running mate. Dalrymple eventually won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Utah
Governor Gary Herbert, who won the 2010 gubernatorial special election to finish his predecessor's unfinished term, ran for a full four-year term in 2012.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Utah
He was opposed by Democrat Peter Cooke, a businessman and retired major general. The Libertarian candidate was medical researcher Ken Larson, and the Constitution party candidate was Kirk D. Pearson. Herbert eventually won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Vermont
Governor Peter Shumlin, the victor of the Vermont gubernatorial election of 2010, ran for re-election in 2012. His Republican challenger was state Senator Randy Brock. Shumlin later won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Washington
U.S. Representative Jay Inslee is the only declared Democratic candidate. Other potential Democratic candidates including state Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, King County Executive Dow Constantine, state Treasurer Jim McIntire, Auditor General Brian Sonntag, and Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon have declined to run, or endorsed Inslee.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Washington
State Attorney General Rob McKenna and Pastor Shahram Hadian, are the announced Republicans in the race. Seattle Port Commission President Bill Bryant is considered a potential Republican candidate. U.S. Representative Dave Reichert decided against a bid, and threw his support to McKenna. Inslee eventually won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, West Virginia
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia ruled on January 18, 2011 that the state must hold a special gubernatorial election in 2011 to fill the vacancy resulting from Joe Manchin's election to the United States Senate. The special election occurred October 4, 2011 with state Senate President and acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin won the election. Tomblin was eligible to run for a full term in 2012.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, West Virginia
Tomblin's 2011 Republican opponent, businessman Bill Maloney, eventually became the Republican nominee. Tomblin later won the election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Wisconsin (recall)
Governor Scott Walker (R) survived a recall election on June 5. Walker's disapproval ratings varied between 50–51% while his approval ratings varied between 47–49% in 2011. Walker led against challenger Tom Barrett (D) in polls since March, including two post-primary polls which showed Walker with a five to twelve point lead. Walker defeated Barrett by seven percentage points, becoming the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Territories, American Samoa
Governor Togiola Tulafono, who had served as Governor since 2003, was ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Territories, American Samoa
Six candidates vied to succeed outgoing Governor Tulafono – former President of American Samoa Community College, Salu Hunkin-Finau; businessman Timothy Jones; former Attorney General Afoa Moega Lutu; former President of the Development Bank of American Samoa, Lolo Letalu Matalasi Moliga; Lieutenant Governor Faoa Aitofele Sunia; and former High Court of American Samoa justice Save Liuato Tuitele. Moliga eventually won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Territories, Puerto Rico
Fortuño had been mentioned as a long-shot potential Republican nominee for President or Vice President in 2012. However, he announced on June 26, 2011 that he would run for re-election instead of seeking the Presidency.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Territories, Puerto Rico
Senator Alejandro García Padilla (PPD) was the net biggest challenger out of six challengers, and eventually won the general election.


2012 United States gubernatorial elections, Territories, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico does not have a position of Lieutenant Governor.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Defending the gold medal won by the 2008 team in the previous Olympic Games, the Americans qualified for the 2012 Games after winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The Olympic team lost some players to injuries who might have made the team, and appeared to be short on big men. Their roster featured five players returning from the 2008 Olympic team and five others from the 2010 World Championship. Coming off a victory in the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals, LeBron James became the leader of the Olympic team.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The US went undefeated but appeared vulnerable in five exhibition games. They finished the tournament with a perfect 8–0 record, defeating opponents by an average of 32 points while trailing in the fourth quarter only once. The Americans often played with a small lineup that emphasized speed, quickness, and outside shooting. The team set an Olympic single-game record with 156 points scored against Nigeria in the preliminary round. In a rematch of the 2008 finals, Team USA again defeated Spain to capture the gold.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Roster
The 2012 team consisted of returning 2008 Olympic gold medal winners small forwards LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and shooting guard Kobe Bryant. It also featured 2010 World Championship winners small forwards Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala, power forward Kevin Love, center Tyson Chandler, and point guard Russell Westbrook. Players earning All-NBA honors in the 2011–12 NBA season included Bryant, Durant, James and Paul on the first team; second-teamers Love and Westbrook; and Anthony and Chandler from the third team.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Roster
The final two Olympics roster spots were claimed by shooting guard James Harden and power forward Blake Griffin; they were chosen over shooting guard Eric Gordon, small forward Rudy Gay, and power forward Anthony Davis. Griffin then sustained a torn meniscus during practice and was replaced by Davis, the number one overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft, who earlier was unable to practice during the final tryouts due to an ankle injury. Forward Lamar Odom removed himself from consideration in July before the start of training camp.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Roster
The initial 20 finalists were announced in January 2012. In addition to Griffin, others withdrew due to injury including power forwards Chris Bosh (abdomen) and LaMarcus Aldridge (torn meniscus), point guards Derrick Rose (ACL) and Chauncey Billups, shooting guard Dwyane Wade (knee), and center Dwight Howard (back surgery). Harden and Davis were added as replacements. Center Andrew Bynum declined an invitation to be added as a finalist.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Roster
The final team was built on quickness and speed. While the roster appeared to be weakened by the injuries to its inside players, Team USA executive director Jerry Colangelo believed the team was deeper, more athletic and more experienced than the 2008 gold-medal team.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Roster
The following is the United States roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Exhibition games
The United States went undefeated at 5–0 in their exhibition games, but were behind early against Brazil and Spain and played a close game against Argentina.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play
The Americans went an undefeated 8–0 and averaged 116 points per game, winning by an average margin of 32.1 points—the fifth highest in US Olympic history. Team USA trailed in the fourth quarter only once, against Lithuania in the opening round. James became the leader of the team with Bryant—who would turn 34 in August 2012—stepping back. James facilitated the offense from the post and perimeter, called the defensive sets, and provided scoring when needed.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play
After winning the gold, Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said James "is the best player, he is the best leader and he is as smart as anybody playing the game right now". Durant scored a United States Olympics record of 156 points in the tournament. He also made 34 three-point field goals, doubling the previous United States mark of 17; Anthony (23) also exceed the old record. Bryant was not in peak condition early, but he played himself into shape and was a key contributor in the final three games. While Chandler was the team's only true center—Davis was thin and had no professional experience—Krzyzewski also played Love, James or Anthony as Team USA's de facto center. Love led the team with 61 rebounds (27 offensive).


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play
Compensating for its lack of big men, the US played small ball and spread its playmakers around the three-point line and with a player penetrating and passing the ball back outside. They won with "basically five players on the perimeter," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. Bryant and Krzyzewski declared at the completion of the tournament that 2012 was their final Olympic appearance. They both joined Team USA after the disappointing bronze finish in the 2004 Games. Krzyzewski left with a 62–1 record and a 50-game winning streak in international play for the Americans. He joined Henry Iba as the only US coaches to lead the team to consecutive Olympic gold medals. In 2013, Team USA announced Krzyzewski would return as head coach from 2013 through 2016.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round
The US competed in Group A in the opening round. Teams played in a round-robin format with the top four teams advancing to the next round. The Americans ended group play 5–0, the only undefeated team and the group's top seed.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, France
Durant scored 22 points, and James had eight assists while taking only six shots as the US won their opening game 98–71 over France. The US was never in any real trouble, but played sloppy in the beginning, missing their first six three-point attempts and being called for 18 personal fouls in the first half. Anthony and Westbrook spent the final six minutes of the half on the bench after their third personal fouls. The team led 52–36 at halftime, which expanded to 78–51 after three quarters. Krzyzewski was able to rest Bryant, James, and Durant for most of the final period, and even the 19-year-old Davis played.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, France
Durant, Anthony, and Chandler contributed nine rebounds each, and Love finished with 14 points. Bryant, James and Durant finished the game a combined 6 for 12 on three-pointers, while the rest of the team shot 2 for 13. France's team featured six NBA players, including Tony Parker.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Tunisia
The US won in a 110–63 blowout over Tunisia, but only after Krzyzewski benched his starters—Bryant, James, Durant, Paul, and Chandler—to begin the second half. The reserves—Love, Anthony, Iguodala, Williams and Westbrook—responded with a 21–3 run to open the half, turning a 46–33 halftime lead to a 67–36 advantage. Tunisia, the consensus weakest team in the Olympics and listed by one website as 54-point underdogs, led the game 15–12 after nine minutes, and trailed only 35–30 with about 3+1⁄2 minutes remaining in the first half. The Americans then scored 11 consecutive points.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Tunisia
Like the opening game when they missed their first six three-pointers, the US started this game an even worse 0-for-8. Colangelo said opponents' strategy was to force the Americans to shoot from outside and hope for an off night. The US made 17 of 22 on conventional field goals in the first half, while missing 10 of 12 from three-point range. This was the team's second consecutive slow start in the Olympics, following the pattern in their five earlier exhibition games. The Americans scored on a variety of dunks once the game was in hand. Anthony and Love led the team with 16 points. Six Americans scored in double figures, including Durant who had 13 points and added 10 rebounds and 5 assists.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Nigeria
The US answered critics of their slow starts and outside shooting with a 156–73 blowout of Nigeria. The Americans scored an Olympic-record 78 points in the first half en route to breaking the record for points in a game of 138, set by Brazil against Egypt in 1988. The record was broken with 4:37 left to play, and the team set US records for 3-pointers (29), field goals (59), field goal percentage (71%), and margin of victory (83).


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Nigeria
Anthony scored 37 points in only 14 minutes of play, shooting 10 of 12 on three-pointers and breaking the US single-game scoring record in less than three quarters. He broke Stephon Marbury's record of 31 against Spain in 2004. Bryant scored 16 points, 14 in the first quarter, as the US scored 49 points in the opening period. They led 78–45 at halftime before doubling their scoring total in the second half. The Americans shot 29 of 46 on three-point attempts (63 percent). They more than doubled their previous record of 13 made, which was broken by halftime after 11 three-pointers in the first quarter alone. Krzyzewski defended the blowout, noting that he removed his stars in the second half, ordered a zone defense, and stopped allowing fast breaks in the opening period.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Lithuania
Mainly a facilitator in the first three games, James scored 9 of his 20 points in the final four minutes as the US came back to defeat Lithuania 99–94. Linas Kleiza scored 25 to lead Lithuania, which led by 84–82 with 5:50 remaining. The US took a three-point lead, but Lithuania pulled within 87–86 with 4:12 in the game. James followed with a three-pointer and a dunk. Entering the contest, James was averaging just 6.7 points but with 5.7 assists.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Lithuania
Anthony added 20 points, and Paul contributed seven rebounds, six assists and four of the Americans' 17 steals. The US made only 10 of 33 attempts on three-point attempts and too often settled for outside shots. Lithuania outrebounded the US 42–37 and shot an impressive 58 percent from the field. The Americans struggled to defend Lithuania's high pick-and-roll. However, the US team's deep bench wore Lithuania down in the final period, forcing several turnovers to determine the outcome in the final minutes. Winning their first three games by an average of 52.2 points and playing so well, the team had canceled their previous two practices and rested while watching other sports instead.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Argentina
Durant scored 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter as the US turned a one-point game into a 126–97 blowout over Argentina. The US led just 60–59 at halftime, when Durant matched Argentina's point total during a 42-point third quarter explosion by the Americans. James scored the first seven in the quarter before Durant took over and shot 5 of 6 from three-point range. He finished 8 of 10 from three-point range, and the team was 20 of 39. James had 18 points in the game, and Paul added 17.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Preliminary round, Argentina
The US allowed Argentina to make 11 of its first 15 shots, and the Americans lead was never bigger than six in the second quarter. Argentina's Luis Scola did not play in the second period, and starting point guard Pablo Prigioni sat the entire game. They rested their starters in the fourth quarter in preparation for their quarterfinal meeting against Brazil, and a possible rematch against the Americans in the semifinals. Manu Ginóbili led the Argentines with 16 points, all in the first half. The US finished the first round as the top seed in their group and the only team undefeated in group play. An American loss by at least 13 points would have placed Argentina instead into the top spot from Group A.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round
The single-elimination round features the top four teams from each of the two groups from the opening round.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Quarterfinal – Australia
Bryant made six straight three-pointers in the second half and James finished with the first triple-double in US Olympic history. The Americans surrendered 11 consecutive points to start the second half. The US was leading by six when Bryant, who shot 0 for 3 in the first half, made consecutive threes to give his team a 70–58 lead. He scored all of his 20 points in the second half, including four consecutive three-pointers in a 66-second span. He entered the game averaging only 9.4 points.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Quarterfinal – Australia
James finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, and he almost had a triple-double by halftime (seven points, 10 rebounds, and six assists). Love added 10 points and 11 rebounds (eight offensive), Anthony scored 17, and Durant had 14.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Semifinal – Argentina
The US met Argentina for the third time in a span of 17 days in the third straight Olympic semifinal meeting between the two countries. Argentina in 2004 was the last team to beat the Americans in Olympic play.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Semifinal – Argentina
Durant scored 19 points, while James and Anthony added 18 each as the US pulled away from Argentina in the second half for a 109–83 win. Ginóbili hit a three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first half to bring Argentina within 47–40, and he scored another three to open the second half to cut the lead to four points. Durant and James took over the game as the Americans led by 17 points to start the fourth.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Semifinal – Argentina
Bryant scored 13 points in the first half—including 11 in the first quarter—and Durant made four three-pointers in the third, while Anthony made four of his own in the fourth. The US made 18 three-pointers in the game. James finished the game  with seven rebounds and seven assists.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Final – Spain
The US met Spain in the gold medal game, a rematch of the finals in the 2008 Olympics. The Americans had won 118–107 in Beijing that year after leading by just four with about 2+1⁄2 minutes left. Spain in 2012 was ranked second in the world behind the US, and had a size advantage with brothers Pau and Marc Gasol. The Spaniards lost games to Russia and Brazil in group play and trailed the Russians by 13 points early in their semifinal win. The US had also beaten Spain for Olympic gold in 1984. The Americans were 8–1 against Spain since the introduction of the NBA players into FIBA events in 1992.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Final – Spain
The Olympics' own daily preview of the 2012 rematch said it would "likely take a great game from Spain and an off-day from the US to cause an upset". The Americans had been tested only once against Lithuania, and they had dominated opponents in points off turnovers (198–77) and fast-break points (175–55). In a game that was close until the final minutes, the US defeated Spain 107–100. The Americans led the Spanish by only one point after three quarters, but James scored on a dunk and then a three-point basket for a 102–93 lead with 1:59 to play.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Final – Spain
James had 19 points in the game, joining Michael Jordan as the only players to win the NBA regular-season Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, NBA championship, NBA Finals MVP, and Olympic gold in the same year. Durant added 30 points, the first 30-point game in an Olympic final in US history. Spain was led by Pau Gasol with 24 points, including his team's first 13 points in the second half to give them a 71–70 lead halfway into the third quarter. Gasol added eight rebounds and seven assists in the game.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic play, Knockout round, Final – Spain
Spain also trailed by one after the first half, which included their guard Juan Carlos Navarro scoring 19 of his 21 points. The Spanish kept the game close despite Marc Gasol being called for four fouls in the first quarter and a half. James, who frequently guarded one of the Gasols due to the Americans' lack of big men, went to the bench with 7:23 in the game after his fourth foul before returning for the final five minutes. Bryant had 17 in the game for Team USA, and Love contributed nine points and nine rebounds. The final margin of seven points was the second-closest Olympic final ever after the Soviet Union's controversial one-point defeat of the United States in 1972.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Dream Team comparisons
Bryant and James  believed the 2012 team would win against the Dream Team, the 1992 Olympic team considered by some the greatest sports team ever assembled. Bryant said, "[ T]hey were a lot older, at kind of the end of their careers. We have just a bunch of young racehorses, guys that are eager to compete". Dream Team member Charles Barkley said that he "just started laughing" upon hearing Bryant's comment and thought the 1992 team would win by double digits.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Dream Team comparisons
Michael Jordan added: "For [Bryant] to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done... Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them". Bird joked, "They probably could. I haven't played in 20 years and we're all old now." Bryant later clarified that he thought the 1992 team was better, but it was "ludicrous" to think his team could not beat the Dream Team in one game. "You didn't ask me if we could beat them in a 7-game series", he said.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Dream Team comparisons
Most experts believed the 1992 team would prevail with a distinct advantage with their centers, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing, over the smaller 2012 team. Chandler was the only 7-foot (2.1 m) player on the 2012 team, but his offensive game was limited. Some felt the discussion might have been more compelling if Dwight Howard and other injured big men were on the 2012 squad. NBA coach Doc Rivers felt the London team had an advantage with their outside shooting over the Dream Team. Like Barkley, CBSSports.com opined that only three members of the 2012 team—Bryant, James, and Durant—would have made the Dream Team.


2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Dream Team comparisons
The Dream Team averaged 117.3 points and won its games by an average of 43.8 points. The 2012 team averaged a similar point total (115.5) but won by a lesser margin (32.1). The Dream Team beat Croatia by 32 in the gold-medal game, while the 2012 team won by just seven. However, the level of international competition improved since 1992. The 2012 team faced a tougher opponent in Spain, which had seven NBA players; Croatia in 1992 had only two NBA players at that point. Overall, the 2012 Olympic field had 39 NBA players and 18 former NBA players were on team rosters, while rosters in 1992 had 17 NBA players and three other former players—more than half of those NBA players were on the Dream Team.


2012 United States motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2012 United States motorcycle Grand Prix (formally known as the 2012 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix) was the tenth round of the 2012 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, and the first of two races in the 2012 season to take place in the United States of America. It was held on 29 July at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.


2012 United States motorcycle Grand Prix
Jorge Lorenzo qualified on pole position for the race, which was won by Casey Stoner.


2012 United States motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round ten has concluded.


2012 United States presidential debates
The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) held four debates for the 2012 U.S. presidential general election, slated for various locations around the United States in October 2012 – three of them involving the major party presidential nominees (later determined to be Democratic President Barack Obama from Illinois and former Republican Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts), and one involving the vice-presidential nominees (Vice President Joe Biden from Delaware and Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin).


2012 United States presidential debates
The CPD stipulates three criteria for eligibility: constitutionally eligible, appearance on enough ballots to potentially reach 270 electoral votes, and average at least 15% on five selected national polls. Two candidates satisfied both requirements to participate: Obama and Romney.


2012 United States presidential debates
The moderators for the debates were announced on August 13, 2012.


2012 United States presidential debates
All four debates took place between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PDT).


2012 United States presidential debates
Subsequently, on October 3, 2012, both campaigns executed a memorandum of understanding governing technical and administrative details of the debate. The agreement describes the role of the moderator, rules applicable to each debate, staging and seating arrangements, and ticket distribution, and was signed by Robert Bauer and Benjamin Ginsberg, general counsel of the Obama and Romney campaigns, respectively.


2012 United States presidential debates
Several non-CPD sanctioned debates among third party candidates took place. The first, moderated by Larry King and organized by the Free and Equal Elections Foundation, took place on October 23, 2012 between Rocky Anderson, Virgil Goode, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein. Stein and Johnson were selected using instant-runoff voting for a second Free and Equal Elections Foundation debate, which was hosted by RT and took place on November 5, 2012. Ralph Nader hosted and moderated a debate between Anderson, Stein, Goode, and Johnson, on November 4, 2012.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Format
According to the memorandum of understanding agreed to by both campaigns prior to the debate, and announced to the public prior to the start, both candidates would have no opening statement. There were six 15 minute segments, with the moderator introducing a topic and giving one candidate two minutes, the other candidate two minutes, and approximately 8 minutes and 45 seconds of facilitated discussion between the two candidates, with both candidates receiving approximately equal time. However, due to candidate responses extending beyond the limit, the last few segments were markedly shorter. Both candidates spoke in front of a lectern. Other than applause at the beginning and end of the debate, there was no audience participation.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Format
The segments were on the economy and job creation, the federal deficit, entitlements and differences between the candidates on Social Security, health care and the Affordable Care Act, the role and mission of the federal government of the United States, and governing in a presidential system and dealing with gridlock.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Reception
More than 67 million Americans watched the debate, making it the most widely viewed first presidential debate in 32 years. A CBS poll of uncommitted voters found that 46% thought that Romney had done better, 22% thought Obama had done better, and 32% thought that it was a tie. A CNN poll found a greater advantage for Romney among debate watchers overall, with 67% believing the former Massachusetts governor had done better, 25% believing that the president had done better, and 8% believing that it was a tie.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Reception
A Gallup poll found that 72% of the debate watchers believed Romney was the clear winner, 20% believed that Obama had won, and 9% believed it was a tie or had no opinion; the widest margin of victory for any presidential debate in Gallup history. Time Magazine's Joe Klein stated, "It was, in fact, one of the most inept performances I've ever seen by a sitting President."


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Reception
The primary critiques of Obama's performance were that he looked detached; seldom addressed his opponent directly; and was often looking down while Romney was speaking.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Reception
Several independent fact checkers noted that a number of factual discrepancies were found in various statements made by both Obama and Romney in the debate. The Houston Chronicle reported that its "study of post-debate reports from factcheck.org, politifact.com, CBS, CNN, The Washington Post, and Politico found that both Obama and Romney stretched the facts [in the debate]. But Obama did it a little less."


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Moderation
The performance of Jim Lehrer as the moderator was widely criticized for frequently allowing the candidates to speak over their time limits. He said that he intended to have a looser format and was not trying to restrict the candidates.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Moderation
Fox News wrote, "The only consolation President Barack Obama had for his poor showing during Wednesday's debate was that moderator Jim Lehrer did even worse." Dan Abrams of ABC News tweeted, "Regardless of who is winning this debate, Jim Lehrer is losing".


2012 United States presidential debates, October 3: First presidential debate (University of Denver), Moderation
Lehrer defended his performance saying, "I've always said this and finally I had a chance to demonstrate it: The moderator should be seen little and heard even less. It is up to the candidates to ask the follow-up questions and challenge one another." Unlike many others, both Romney and Obama made favorable remarks about Lehrer.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 11: Vice presidential debate (Centre College), Format
The first and only debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan focused on domestic and foreign policy, and was broken down into nine 10-minute segments. The foreign policy segments included questions on the attack on the American consulate in Libya, Iran, the civil war in Syria, and Afghanistan. The domestic policy segments included questions on health care, abortion, the national debt, Social Security, Medicare, and taxes.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 11: Vice presidential debate (Centre College), Reception
A CBS poll of uncommitted voters found that 50% of those viewers thought Biden did better, 31% thought Ryan did better, and 19% thought they tied. A Reuters poll indicated Biden the superior candidate, 42% to 35% with 23% undecided or believing they tied. A CNN poll of debate watchers found that 48% of viewers believed Ryan had done better, 44% believed Biden had done better, and 8% believed they tied or had no opinion; CNN noted that the debate audience polled was about eight percentage points more Republican than the general population. Nate Silver's analysis of polling after the debate led to his concluding that, though both debaters performed adequately, Biden's performance helped to slow the momentum of the Romney campaign following the first presidential debate.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 11: Vice presidential debate (Centre College), Reception
The debate was watched by over 51 million people, making it the third most-watched vice presidential debate, behind that of 1984 (57 million) and 2008 (70 million).


2012 United States presidential debates, October 11: Vice presidential debate (Centre College), Moderation
Martha Raddatz was generally praised for her moderation during this debate.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University)
The second presidential debate took place on Tuesday, October 16 at New York's Hofstra University, and was moderated by Candy Crowley of CNN. The debate followed a town hall format, with a group of noncommitted voters asking questions to the candidates, after which the moderator would ask follow-up questions.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University)
The second debate dealt primarily with domestic affairs, but, unlike the first debate, did include some segues into foreign policy. Topics discussed included taxes, unemployment, job creation, the national debt, energy and energy independence, women's rights, both legal and illegal immigration, and the recent attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Format
The Gallup Organization selected 82 undecided voters from the New York area to attend the debate. According to the rules set out by the Commission on Presidential Debates and codified in a memorandum of understanding between both candidates, each candidate received two minutes to answer the question, followed by a two-minute rebuttal. The candidates often engaged each other during the rebuttal period, and Crowley also followed up with candidates.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Format
Although moderator Crowley had intended to allow 15 voters to ask their questions, due to the length of candidate responses, 11 voters had time to ask questions of the candidates. The questions were:


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Reception
A CNN poll of debate watchers found that 46% of respondents believed that Obama had done better, 39% believed that Romney had done better, and 11% had no opinion or believed they tied; CNN noted that the debate audience polled was about eight percentage points more Republican than the general population, similar to the Vice Presidential debate. A CBS poll of uncommitted voters found that 37% believed Obama was superior in the second debate, 30% said that Romney was superior, and 33% called the debate a tie. 55% of the voters CBS polled said that Obama gave direct answers, while 49% said this about Romney.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Reception
The consensus among liberals as well as some conservatives was that Obama's showing in the second debate was considerably stronger in comparison with his performance in the first debate. Analysts characterized him as more assertive and "tough" in the second debate. Romney was perceived to have not done as well as his previous performance, missing several opportunities to rebut Obama. In answer to a question about equal pay for women, Romney said that as Governor of Massachusetts, he had solicited "binders full of women" qualified to serve in his administration.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Reception
His comment became an Internet meme and was parodied with pages on social networking sites. It was also adopted as a political attack line on Romney's attitude towards women issues. Women's groups, such as MassGAP, responded that they had approached Romney with suggestions for qualified candidates to have him commit to including more women. MassGAP stated they had done the same for his opponent. Commentators criticized him for appearing edgy, tense and irritable, off his game, and interrupting too much.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Reception
Polls conducted by CBS, CNN, and Reuters/Ipsos found a plurality felt Obama had done better than Romney, and a slight majority felt the same in a Gallup poll.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Please proceed, governor
The discussion of the 2012 Benghazi attack produced an exchange known for the phrase Please proceed, governor, later described by Frank Rich as hilarious, and covered by Jon Stewart at The Daily Show.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Please proceed, governor
The candidates disagreed as to whether Obama declared the Libyan consular attack as terrorism the day after the event or, as Romney claimed, erroneously said it was a protest caused by an anti-Muslim video for two weeks before identifying it as a terrorist attack.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 16: Second presidential debate (Hofstra University), Please proceed, governor
The end of that exchange was a comment by moderator Candy Crowley where she affirmed the facts of Obama's statement, referring to a transcript of his speech. Crowley said in part, during the debate, "He did call it an act of terror." In his Rose Garden closing remarks, the President had said in part, "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation."


2012 United States presidential debates, October 22: Third presidential debate (Lynn University)
The third presidential debate took place on Monday, October 22 at Florida's Lynn University, and was moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS. Topics discussed included the recent attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Iran's nuclear program, the Arab Spring, especially the Syrian civil war, relations with Israel, relations with Pakistan, the War on Terror, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq, the size and scope of the U.S. military, and relations and trade with China, as well as the rise of that nation. Governor Romney also briefly broached the subject of the ongoing insurgency in Mali. Although the debate was supposed to strictly concern only foreign policy, the candidates did manage to fit a few domestic policy issues, such as job creation, the federal deficit, and education into the discussion.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 22: Third presidential debate (Lynn University), Format
The format of this debate was identical to that of the first debate. There were six 15-minute segments, with the moderator introducing a topic and giving each candidate two minutes to respond, before allowing the candidates to discuss the topics.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 22: Third presidential debate (Lynn University), Reception
A CBS poll of uncommitted voters found that 53% believed that Obama won, 23% believed that Romney won, and 24% called the debate a tie. A CNN poll of debate watchers found that 48% of respondents called Obama the winner, 40% called Romney the winner, and 12% had no opinion or thought they tied; CNN noted that the debate audience polled was about five percentage points more Republican than the general population.


2012 United States presidential debates, October 22: Third presidential debate (Lynn University), Moderation
Schieffer's moderation, which was perceived as confident but affable, received praise.


2012 United States presidential debates, Protests over excluded candidates, Lawsuit
Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein sued the Commission on Presidential Debates, the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee, alleging that the Commission's failure to extend them an invitation to the 2012 violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and the First Amendment. Johnson and Stein's suit was dismissed by the federal courts; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in 2017 that the two candidates lacked a valid legal claim or a cognizable injury.


2012 United States presidential debates, Protests over excluded candidates, Arrest of Green Party candidates outside second debate and lawsuit
On October 16, 2012, Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein and vice-presidential nominee Cheri Honkala were arrested for disorderly conduct while trying to take part in the second presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The two women claim they were taken to a warehouse, and strapped for eight hours to chairs with plastic wrist restraints before being released.


2012 United States presidential debates, Protests over excluded candidates, Withdrawal of sponsors
Three of the debate sponsors dropped out ahead of the first presidential debate due to the exclusion of major third party candidates. These companies were BBH New York, YWCA USA and Philips Electronics.


2012 United States presidential debates, Third party debates, October 18: IVN.us online presidential debate
IVN.us hosted an online presidential debate on October 18, 2012. It featured two third-party candidates, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.


2012 United States presidential debates, Third party debates, October 23: First Free and Equal Elections Foundation debate (Hilton Chicago)
The Free and Equal Elections Foundation organized a debate featuring third party candidates Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Virgil Goode and Rocky Anderson, which was held in Chicago at 9:00pm EDT on October 23, 2012. Veteran broadcaster Larry King of Ora.TV served as moderator for the debate, which was streamed live online. It was also streamed live by Ora.TV on YouTube and was broadcast live by C-SPAN, Link TV, Russia Today and Al Jazeera English.


2012 United States presidential debates, Third party debates, October 23: First Free and Equal Elections Foundation debate (Hilton Chicago), Format
Each candidate was given an opportunity to make a two-minute opening statement. Then, six questions were asked to each of the four candidates and the candidates were given one minute to answer. However, the moderator accidentally started with the first question instead of allowing the candidates to do the opening statement. The opening statements had to follow their answers to the first question. The questions were:


2012 United States presidential debates, Third party debates, October 23: First Free and Equal Elections Foundation debate (Hilton Chicago), Reception
The Free and Equal Elections Foundation conducted a post-debate poll to determine which candidates would progress to their second debate. The poll found 55% of viewers thought Johnson had done the best, 31% thought Stein had done the best, 8% had felt Anderson had done the best, and 6% had felt Goode had done the best. The second round of the instant run-off vote showed that the top two candidates were still Johnson and Stein; these candidates were allowed to progress to the second debate.


2012 United States presidential debates, Third party debates, October 23: First Free and Equal Elections Foundation debate (Hilton Chicago), Moderation
The moderator Larry King received some criticism for his mishap at the beginning of the debate. Some commentators thought this showed the debate's irrelevance.


2012 United States presidential debates, Third party debates, November 4: Ralph Nader presidential debate (Busboys and Poets)
Ralph Nader hosted and moderated a debate that took place on November 4, 2012 at Busboys and Poets in Washington D.C. between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Gary Johnson, Virgil Goode, Rocky Anderson and Jill Stein participated.


2012 United States presidential debates, Third party debates, November 5: Second Free and Equal Elections Foundation debate (RT America studio)
After the previous Free and Equal Elections Foundation debate, a second debate was announced, this time focusing on foreign policy. The debate was hosted by RT at the RT America Studio in Washington D.C. and took place on November 5, 2012 between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. It was initially to be held on October 30, 2012, but was delayed due to Hurricane Sandy. The candidates that participated were those that won the instant-runoff vote after the previous debate - Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.


2012 United States presidential election
The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-elected to a second term. They defeated the Republican ticket of businessman and former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.


2012 United States presidential election
As the incumbent president, Obama secured the Democratic nomination without serious opposition. The Republicans experienced a competitive primary. Romney was consistently competitive in the polls and won the support of many party leaders, but he faced challenges from a number of more conservative contenders. Romney secured his party's nomination in May, defeating former Senator Rick Santorum, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Texas congressman Ron Paul, among other candidates.


2012 United States presidential election
The campaigns focused heavily on domestic issues, and debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession. Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, the future of social insurance programs, and the Affordable Care Act, Obama's marquee legislative program. Foreign policy was also discussed, including the end of the Iraq War in 2011, military spending, the Iranian nuclear program, and appropriate counteractions to terrorism. The campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising, including from nominally independent Super PACs.


2012 United States presidential election
Obama defeated Romney, winning a majority of both the Electoral College and the popular vote. Obama won 332 electoral votes and 51.1% of the popular vote compared to Romney's 206 electoral votes and 47.2%.