THE LEAD story in Sunday’s paper offered “many reasons for the presidential candidate’s failure” (“The candidate who never really left voters in,” Page A1, Dec. 23). As a sports fan I enjoyed the inside look at the campaign’s strategies and counterstrategies.

But elections aren’t football games. As a citizen I think the story missed the central reason for Obama’s victory: Americans tuned out the ads, the spin, the interminable robocalls, and the gaming; listened to the candidates; and heard what they said about taxes, jobs, the safety net, education, health care, and women’s issues.