Presidential Election 2012: Obama Re-elected (Op-Ed)

Last night and early this morning, it was clear America had spoken. President Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term in office, despite the delayed rescindence of Governor Mitt Romney and the very disappointed Karl Rove as seen on Fox News.

The president won the Northeast, the West Coast, and most of the swing states–Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, New Mexico, and New Hampshire. President Obama was earned votes from Wisconsin, Paul Ryan’s home state; Michigan, Governor Romney’s home state; and Massachussets, Governor Romney’s state constituents. Meanwhile, Governor Romney earned votes from the South and most of the Midwest. including Kentucky, Idaho, North Carolina and Texas.

The 2012 Election was a victory for Democrats in the Senate. Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren unseated Republican senator and incumbent, Scott Brown in the highly aniticpated Massachussetts race. In Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin was not only the first woman to be elected as a Wisconsin senator, but she is also the first openly gay politician.

Republicans Todd Akin of Missouri and Richard Mourdock of Indiana lost their Senate seats, which may be attributed to their comments about “legitimate rape” and carrying a child as a result of a rape part of “God’s plan.”

Overall, Congress maintained the same setup it has had for the past two years–Democratic majority in the Senate, Republican majority in the House of Representatives. It is my greatest hope that the parties will finally work together and accomplish something, but there are already roadblocks in the way of building a united, cooperative Congress. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell’s statement does not reflect optimism from the right. Afterall, McConnell it was McConnell who adopted the mentality to make Obama a “one term president” during the 2008 election.

It’s this mentality of inflexibility, negativity, and self-righteousness that has kept the nation from progress.

I hope the nasty badgering from both sides comes to a halt or, at the very least, stops in Washington D.C. . I hope that the White House is listening to the pressure put on by the American people, including President Obama and Congress, to collaborate. I hope Congress will be obliged to move beyond partisanship and create an America that benefits the whole nation.

Now that the winners have taken their tiaras, it’s time to move past the beauty pageant, kick off those sparkling, towering high heels, and get to work.