&gt;Correct me if I&#x27;m wrong but haven&#x27;t the past 3 presidential elections been won by the candidate with the biggest cash flow?<p>First, correlation is not causation. Second, this chart [0] shows Romney and Obama were neck-and-neck as far as dollars raised, and that Romney actually had spent slightly more than Obama. This chart says it covers through September 2012, so maybe Obama <i>did</i> end up spending a bit more (or maybe he didn&#x27;t), but the difference in spending is very small.<p>When you ask why Romney lost in 2012, there are a couple answers that get cited. First, Romney&#x27;s leaked &quot;47% comment&quot; was disastrous for him. Second, Obama&#x27;s team used technology much more effectively to get out the vote. Apparently there was a group working on software on Romney&#x27;s side, but it wasn&#x27;t managed correctly and the software was not usable by election day.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;elections.nytimes.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;campaign-finance" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;elections.nytimes.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;campaign-finance</a>