GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was “shell-shocked’’ and his wife Ann began to cry when they learned of the former Massachusetts governor’s loss to President Barack Obama, a new report reveals.
“There’s nothing worse than when you think you're going to win, and you don't. It was like a sucker punch,’’ a Romney senior advisor told
CBS News.
Just as upset at the bitter loss was Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan who appeared “grim,’’ while his “shaken’’ wife Janna softly sobbed, according to the network.
It wasn’t the way things were supposed to go.
“We went into the evening confident we had a good path to victory,’’ another senior Romney advisor told CBS News. “I don't think there was one person who saw this coming.’’
But there were signals the Romney/Ryan ticket was in trouble when huge turnouts in northeastern Ohio, Northern Virginia, and central Florida and the Miami-Dade area appeared favorable to the Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
It got worse when Pennsylvania — and later, Ohio — went to the incumbent.
Finally, advisors in the Romney camp realized they would have to place the call they never in a million years thought would have to be made, CBS said.
According to CBS, Romney’s personal assistant, Garrett Jackson, phoned Obama’s personal assistant, Marvin Nicholson, and asked “Is your boss available?’’
Romney was stoic as he talked to the president, an aide said, but his wife Ann cried. Running mate Paul Ryan seemed genuinely shocked, the adviser said.
Ryan’s wife Janna also was shaken and cried softly, according to CBS.
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