Barack Obama wins re-elections.
President Barack Obama handily defeated Gov. Mitt Romney and won
himself a second term on Tuesday after a bitter and historically
expensive race that was primarily fought in just a handful of
battleground states. Obama beat Romney after nabbing almost every
one of the 12 crucial battleground states.
The Romney campaign's last-ditch attempt to put blue-leaning
Midwestern swing states in play failed as Obama's Midwestern
firewall sent the president back to the White House for four more
years. Obama picked up the swing states of New Hampshire, Michigan,
New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada,
Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio. Of the swing states, Romney
picked up only North Carolina. Florida is still too close to call,
but even if Romney wins the state, Obama still beat him in the
Electoral College vote. The popular vote will most likely be
narrower than the president's decisive Electoral College
victory.
In a sweeping victory speech early Wednesday morning, Obama
thanked every American who voted, and vowed to work with leaders
from both parties to tackle the country's challenges.
In his speech, he offered clues to the policy goals of his
second term, which included a deficit reduction plan that combines
tax increases with spending cuts, a comprehensive overhaul of the
nation's federal immigration laws and tax reform. He called on
Republicans to join him in achieving those goals.
The battle for the White House between Obama and Romney divided
the nation, causing, at times, bitter disputes between the parties.
Obama urged his supporters to look beyond the fight of the past
several months and defended the process of choosing a
president.
"I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small,
even silly," Obama said. "And that provides plenty of fodder
for the cynics who tell us that politics is nothing more than
a contest of evils or the domain of special interests. If you
ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out to our
rallies and along the rope lines of high school gyms, or saw
folks working late at campaign office or some tiny county a long
way from home, you'll discover something else."
Romney conceded in Boston in a speech around 1 a.m. ET. "Like so
many of you, Paul [Ryan] and I have left everything on the field.
We have given our all to this campaign," Romney said. "I so wish
that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead your country in
another direction. But the nation chose another leader." Romney
congratulated the president and his campaign on their victory.
The Obama victory marks an end to a years-long campaign that saw
historic advertisement spending levels, countless rallies and
speeches, and three much-watched debates.
The Romney campaign cast the election as a referendum on Obama's
economic policies, frequently comparing him to former President
Jimmy Carter and asking voters the Reagan-esque question of whether
they are better off than they were four years ago. But the Obama
campaign pushed back, blanketing key states such as Ohio early on
with ads painting him as a multimillionaire more concerned with
profits than people. The Obama campaign also aggressively attacked
Romney on reproductive rights issues, tying Romney to a handful of
Republican candidates who made controversial comments about rape
and abortion.
The ads were one reason Romney faced a steep likeability problem
for most of the race, until his expert performance at the first
presidential debate in Denver in October. After that debate, and a
near universal panning of Obama's performance, Romney caught up
with Obama in national polls, and almost closed his favorability
gap with the president. In polls, voters consistently gave him an
edge over Obama on who would handle the economy better and create
more jobs, even as they rated Obama higher on caring about the
middle class.
But the president's Midwestern firewall—and the campaign's
impressive grassroots operation—carried him through. Ohio
tends to vote a bit more Republican than the nation as a whole, but
Obama was able to stave off that trend and hold an edge there over
Romney, perhaps due to the president's support of the auto bailout
three years ago. Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, all but
moved to Ohio in the last weeks of the campaign, trying and
ultimately failing to erase Obama's lead there.
A shrinking electoral battleground this year meant that only 12
states were really seen as in play, and both candidates spent most
of their time and money there. Though national polls showed the two
candidates in a dead heat, Obama consistently held a lead in the
states that mattered. That, and his campaign's much-touted
get-out-the-vote efforts and overall ground game, may be what
pushed Obama over the finish line.
Now, Obama heads back to office facing what will most likely be
bitterly partisan negotiations over whether the Bush tax cuts
should expire. The House will still be majority Republican, with
Democrats maintaining their majority in the Senate.
The loss may provoke some soul searching in the Republican
Party. This election was seen as a prime opportunity to unseat
Obama, as polls showed Americans were unhappy with a sluggish
economy, sky-high unemployment and a health care reform bill that
remained widely unpopular. Romney took hardline positions on
immigration, federal spending and taxes during the long Republican
primary when he faced multiple challenges from the right. He later
shifted to the center in tone on many of those issues, but it's
possible the primary painted him into a too-conservative corner to
appeal to moderates during the general election. The candidate also
at times seemed unable to effectively counter Democratic attacks on
his business experience and personal wealth.
"In the coming weeks and months I am looking forward to reaching
out to leaders of both parties," Obama said.
He won't have much time to fulfill that promise. With tax hikes
looming and a sequestration deal that will make enormous ,
automatic cuts in government funding, Congress and the White House
must move quickly to find a compromise and put Obama's high-minded
rhetoric into action.
Chris Moody contributed reporting from Chicago.
