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Date and Location
Zoe Anderson
The 2012 election led to another critical moment in the transformation of the party. Many Republicans never really accepted Romney as their nominee, even though they voted for him out of party loyalty. Romney's loss was the occasion for the party to conduct an "autopsy" that resulted in little insight into why he lost. Meanwhile, 2012 saw two genuinely anti-establishment candidacies in the Republican race—not only longtime candidate Ron Paul but former Senator Rick Santorum, who was increasingly unhappy with Bush-McCain-Romney dominance in the GOP.
GUEST: Ryan Willams, Executive Vice President at Targeted Victory, Former Deputy National Press Secretary for Romney for President
AUDIENCE: These conversations are open to members of the Harvard community. Please RSVP with a valid Harvard email address.
OFF-THE-RECORD: In keeping with our long tradition at the IOP to ensure honest and candid discussions of politics, all IOP study groups are off-the-record.
Speakers and Presenters
Byron York, IOP Spring 2026 Resident Fellow; Chief Political Correspondent, Washington Examiner & Fox News Contributor;
Ryan Willams, Executive Vice President at Targeted Victory; Former Deputy National Press Secretary for Romney for President