Obama takes key battlegrounds to win re-election
November 7, 2012 -- Updated 1007 GMT (1807 HKT)
Obama: 'The best is yet to come'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: President Barack Obama says best times for America still ahead
- Mitt Romney concedes, calling for an end to political bickering
- Obama overtakes Romney in popular vote as turnout heavy
- Republicans retain control of U.S. House; Democrats hold Senate
According to CNN projections, Obama surpassed the decisive 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College with victory in Ohio. That and a later projected victory in another swing state -- Virginia -- gave him 303 electoral votes to 206 for Romney, according to the CNN call based on unofficial returns.
Joyful supporters danced
and cheered at Obama's victory party in Chicago, and the president
thanked them for ensuring the nation will continue to move forward while
warning the battle for change they seek will continue to be difficult.
"Tonight, in this
election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has
been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up,
we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the
United States of America, the best is yet to come," Obama said to
prolonged cheers.
He emphasized his main
campaign theme of fighting for equal opportunity for all, saying the
political arguments that come with democracy in America were a necessary
part of the process.
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"We will disagree,
sometimes fiercely," Obama said, noting that "progress will come in fits
and starts" and the victory Tuesday night "won't end all the gridlock."
Foreshadowing hard
decisions ahead, the president said blind optimism and wishful idealism
"can't substitute for the need to make difficult compromises to move
forward."
When he finished, the
first family and Vice President Joe Biden and his family joined him
onstage in a celebration of waves, hugs amid a blizzard of confetti.
In Boston, Romney supporters hugged and wept in a somber vigil while waiting for their candidate to concede.
In a brief speech he
delivered alone, Romney congratulated and said his prayers would be with
the president at such a challenging time for the country.
"At a time like this we
can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing," Romney said,
later adding that he wished he had "fulfilled your wishes to lead this
great country in a different direction."
Romney's wife, Ann, and
most of his family, as well as running mate Rep. Paul Ryan and his
family then came on the stage for a few minutes in what was a subdued
farewell.
Late push by Romney falls short
Obama withstood a late push by Romney in Pennsylvania and won battleground states of Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and Colorado, according to CNN projections.
One other battleground, Florida, remained too close to call early on Wednesday.
He also easily won traditional Democratic strongholds of California, New York and other populous states such as Michigan, the state where Romney was born and his father served as governor.
Exit polls showed Obama
received strong support, as expected, from women voters as well as
overwhelming support from African Americans and strong backing from
Hispanic voters, similar to the coalition that carried him to victory
four years earlier to make him the nation's first African American
president.
Meanwhile, CNN projected
that Democrats will retain their majority in the Senate, ensuring
another divided Congress after Republicans earlier were projected to
hold their majority in the U.S. House.
The result showed
Republicans need to recalibrate their approach to broaden their appeal
to a nation of changing demographics, analysts said.
Exit polls indicated
that white voters made up 72% of the electorate, with African Americans,
Latinos and other minorities comprising a growing share.
"It's not about
geography anymore with the Republican Party," said Margaret Hoover, a
Republican strategist and CNN contributor. "It's about demographics, and
we've got to start thinking about growing the party."
David Gergen, CNN's
senior political analyst, said the Grand Old Party must move its
foundation back toward the political center from the increasingly
right-wing positions pushed by tea party conservatives.
"It seems to me that the
lesson has to be clear to Republicans that they have to adjust," Gergen
said. "They've gotten too far out."
Race was dead even in final polls
Obama and Romney ran dead even in final polls that
hinted at a result rivaling some of the closest presidential elections
in history, reflecting the deep political chasm in the country.
A heavy turnout was
reported in much of the nation, and both campaigns expressed confidence
that they would prevail in what was expected to be a long night awaiting
results from the eight states still up for grabs that will determine
the victor.
As predicted, the
election was decided in the battleground states, and as the returns
emerged, it became clear that Romney was failing to win them.
Overall, Obama led by more than one million votes in the popular tally.
The president won his
home state of Illinois as well as Romney' s home state of Massachusetts
-- where the Republican previously served as governor. He also won
Romney's birth state of Michigan, along with Colorado, Nevada,
California, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, New
Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont,
Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Maine, Rhode Island, Hawaii and the
District of Columbia, according to the CNN projections.
Romney won North
Carolina, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee,
Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, South Carolina, Oklahoma,
Utah, Missouri and Georgia, CNN projects.
According to early exit
polls, 60% of voters said the economy was the most important issue, 59%
thought abortion should be legal and 50% wanted Obama's health care
reform law repealed while 43% wanted it to remain in place or be
expanded.
The breakdown of voters,
according to the early exit polls, was 73% white, 13% African American,
10% Latino and 3% Asian. Pre-election polls showed Romney holding an
advantage among white men while Obama had the edge with white women, and
Obama receiving overwhelming support among minorities.
With the victory, Obama
will face the challenge of leading a country facing chronic federal
deficits and debt as well as sluggish economic growth in the wake of a
devastating recession and financial industry collapse that confronted
Obama when he took office in January 2009.
Around the country,
voters formed long lines at polling places after record numbers
participated in early balloting, indicating a strong turnout.
Sporadic reports of
irregularities included malfunctioning voting machines and other
problems, including electoral hardships for some struggling to recover
from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy in states in the country's
northeast.
A judge in Philadelphia,
a heavily Democratic city, ordered election officials to cover a mural
of Obama at one school used as a polling location after Republicans
complained the painting violated election laws.
Elsewhere in the city,
GOP poll monitors were being escorted into precincts by sheriff's
deputies after some observers had been denied access earlier in the day,
said Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
In New Jersey, which
permitted electronic balloting in the aftermath of last week's storm,
the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union headed to court
on Tuesday on behalf of voters who said their requests for an electronic
ballot weren't being acknowledged.
Candidates usually take Election Day off, but both sides continued to make public appearances even as voting was under way.
Obama visited a local
Democratic election center in the Chicago area, while Vice President Joe
Biden made "an unannounced but long-scheduled" stop in the key
battleground state of Ohio.
Romney and his running
mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, also arrived separately in Ohio, with Romney's
campaign plane and Air Force Two, which carries the vice president,
crossing paths at Cleveland's airport.
Earlier Tuesday, Romney
cast his ballot outside of Boston on Tuesday, while Obama previously
became the first sitting president to vote early when he did so in
Chicago last month.
New pressure for deficit deal
With the election over,
the White House and Congress will face fresh pressure to legislate a
comprehensive deficit reduction deal that has been stymied so far by
intransigence on the issue of tax reform, with Republicans refusing to
consider any kind of tax increase while Obama and Democrats insist on at
least the wealthy paying a higher income tax rate.
Despite the building
drama toward Election Day in the campaign expected to cost $2.6 billion,
much of the outcome already was known.
Only a handful of states were considered up for grabs and both candidates and their campaigns concluded an exhausting final sprint through them over the weekend and on Monday.
The barnstorming
amounted to a montage of Americana electioneering, with Obama and Romney
shouting themselves hoarse before boisterous crowds, joined by top
surrogates and star power such as Bruce Springsteen singing for Obama
and Kid Rock for Romney.
In their final speeches,
the candidates and their running mates blended inspirational visions
for a better future with well-honed attacks in hopes of ensuring their
committed supporters actually cast ballots while trying to coax votes
from anyone still undecided.
Obama briefly waxed
nostalgic at his first event on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, referring
to Springsteen when he said: "I get to fly around with him on the last
day that I will ever campaign, so that's not a bad way to end things."
He cited accomplishments
of his first term, including ending the war in Iraq, winding down the
war in Afghanistan, passing health insurance and Wall Street reforms,
and ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that banned openly gay and
lesbian personnel from the military.
Emotion overtook the president at the end of the day.
His eyes welled with
tears as he thanked the people "who've given so much to this campaign
over the years," during a stop in Des Moines, Iowa -- a place where his
first campaign gained an early foothold in his first run for the White
House.
For his part, Romney
called Obama's record one of underachievement and failure, telling a
cheering Virginia crowd at his second stop of the day that "almost every
measure he took hurt the economy, hurt fellow Americans."
At an earlier event in
Florida, Romney asked if people wanted four more years like the last
four, raising the specter of continuing gridlock in Washington and
adding that "unless we change course, we may be looking at another
recession."
He had promised to
repeal the health care and Wall Street reforms of the Obama presidency
and to "limit government rather than limiting the dreams" of Americans.
As the challenger,
Romney sought to frame the election as a referendum on Obama's
presidency and to capitalize on his own background as multimillionaire
businessman by depicting himself as better able to handle economic
issues identified by voters as their biggest concern. His campaign stump
speech hammered Obama over high unemployment and what he called
excessive taxes and regulations that Romney said stifled faster growth.
Obama and his team
attacked Romney's politics and his background as a venture capitalist,
saying he would back policies favoring the wealthy over the middle class
and exacerbate the already widening income and opportunity disparity in
the country. The president wanted the race to come down to competing
visions for the future and his oft-repeated goal of restoring the
promise of the American dream of equal opportunity for all.
In particular, Obama
repeatedly noted he backed a taxpayer bailout that helped restore
General Motors and Chrysler while Romney opposed it. The issue resonated
in auto industry states like Michigan and Ohio, which was considered
the most significant of the battlegrounds in the final days of the race.
Campaign chess match
Aside from the policy
differences, the election amounted to a campaign chess match targeting
specific states and demographic groups as part of plan to create a path
to electoral success. Polling portrayed a race that hinged on the social
and democratic divides in American society, with Obama supported most
strongly by women, minorities and young respondents, while Romney did
better among wealthy and middle class white men, from senior citizens
down to 30-year-olds.
In response, Obama
emphasized the anti-choice positions of Romney and conservatives on
abortion, their stance against gay rights and their opposition to
providing a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants.
Re-election offered
Obama, 51, the chance to secure a two-term legacy and seek further
reforms he promised in his historic campaign of 2008 but was unable to
deliver in the first four years. In particular, he has made
comprehensive immigration reform a top target, as well as a deficit
reduction plan that ends tax breaks for income over $250,000.
However, the wave of
optimism that carried to him to victory four years ago seemed muted
during the campaign this time, with former supporters angered by the
failure to achieve the kind of change in Washington they believed Obama
had promised but failed to deliver.
For Romney, a
multimillionaire businessman who sought to become the nation's first
Mormon president, the election concluded a six-year quest for the White
House.
Romney also failed in
his first bid for the Republican nomination in 2008, then spent the next
two years preparing for a second run that began in 2011 with a grueling
primary campaign featuring a record 20 debates. Romney, 65, shifted to
the right for the primary race to overcome a broad field.
Romney declared himself
"severely" conservative and adopted stances against abortion, gay
marriage and a path to legal residency for undocumented immigrants while
also opposing higher tax rates as part of a deficit reduction plan.
His support remained
steady -- though well below a majority -- throughout the primary
campaign while opponents dropped out one by one until Romney emerged as
the winner and claimed the nomination at the GOP convention in late
August.
However, his campaign
endured a tough September, due in part to some unforced errors. A
secretly recorded video from a May fundraiser became public, showing
Romney referring to 47% of the country as dependent on government
handouts and therefore unreachable to him as a candidate.
When U.S. diplomatic
compounds came under attack on September 11, including an assault that
killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya,
Romney quickly issued a statement that was criticized for mistaken
information and seeking to politicize a sensitive national security
issue.
Then, in the first
presidential debate on October 3, Romney began an energetic shift back
to the political center and scored a clear victory over Obama by
presenting himself as more moderate than the right-wing zealot portrayed
by the president.
Obama's lackluster
showing in the first debate contributed to an overwhelming consensus
among analysts and poll results that Romney carried the night, and he
began rising in the polls to erase what had been a consistent Obama lead
since the conventions a month earlier.
Stronger performances by
Obama in the second and third debates began to slow Romney's momentum,
though the Romney team claimed a surge put states like Michigan and
Pennsylvania back in play. They were previously thought safe for the
president.
With polls tightening in
the final weeks, Romney or his surrogates heightened their attacks on
key issues, including a campaign ad that implied the auto bailout led to
shifting the production of iconic Chrysler Jeeps to China. The
automaker joined the Obama campaign in complaining that the ad was
misleading, and the president said it was intended to scare workers for
political gain.
Superstorm Sandy
However, the biggest
impact on the end of the campaign was Superstorm Sandy, which blasted
the East Coast from Maryland to Connecticut just over a week before
Election Day. Obama and Romney canceled campaign events, and the
president shifted to full emergency response mode as the storm and its
devastation dominated the national focus for much of the final full week
of campaigning.
On the ground, record
numbers of voters cast early ballots as both sides boasted of ramped-up
organizations to identify and contact supporters.
Overall, the total cost of the election for president and Congress could
top a record-breaking $6 billion, according to the nonpartisan Center
for Responsive Politics. The figure covers spending from January 2011
through whatever totals emerge after Tuesday's election.
Outside groups accounted
for the biggest boost in spending, with independent organizations
dropping more than $970 million. The increase was largely related to the
2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for super PACs to
raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they did not
coordinate with the campaigns.
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