When Barack Obama was reelected president in November 2012 his Republican challenger Mitt Romney took the blame for being alternately too moderate or too conservative. Critics from both within and outside of his party claimed his vast wealth made him unappealing to voters and that his robotic persona meant he just could not connect. How then did he win the nomination What happened during the twelvemonth buildup to Romney being named the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party that helped define him as both a man and a candidate Furthermore how did media coverage frame his competitors and the race itself a contest characterized by its rollercoaster natureLast Man Standing examines mainstream media coverage of the 2012 Republican primary season to identify and examine the frames used to make sense of the candidates and the race. Through an exhaustive analysis of candidaterelated coverage from six major media outlets The New York Times Wall Street Journal and Washington Post for newspapers CNN Fox News and MSNBC for cable news networks Coombs weaves her examination of media frames into a compelling narrative reconstruction of the 2012 primary season.This book featuresExhaustive analysis of mainstream media coverage over a twelvemonth periodSmart insightful exploration of media frames Chronological structure which allows for analysis to address how frames shift with candidateamprsquos fortunes