Barack Obama Re-Elected U.S. President

president barack obama was re-elected u.s. president last night, defeating republican candidate mitt romney with more than 300 electoral votes. obama told an exuberant crowd at his headquarters in chicago, "while our road has been hard, though our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. we have fought our way back & we know in our hearts that for the united states of america the best is yet to come."

obama mentioned he wants to meet with romney to discuss how they can work together. obama said, "we may have battled fiercely, but its only because we love this country deeply." romney made a brief & gracious concession speech at his somber headquarters in boston. romney said he "prays the president will be successful in guiding our nation." romney urged all americans to put political bickering aside & "reach across the aisle" to tackle the nation's problems.

with votes counted in 75% of the nation's precincts, obama held a narrow advantage in the popular vote, leading by about 25,000 out of the more than 99 million cast. obama captured seven of the nine states where the rivals & their allies poured nearly $1 billion into dueling television commercials. as such, this was the most expensive campiagn in american history; dividing government once again.

according to organizations who track advertising, romney & republican groups spent over $550 million. obama & his allies spent over $381 million. each candidate felt the race would be decided in nine battleground states: colorado, florida, iowa, nevada, new hampshire, north carolina, ohio, virginia & wisconsin. in virginia, the polls had been closed for several minutes when obama's campaign texted a call for volunteers "to make sure everyone who's still in line gets to vote." florida still remains too close to call, but state law mandates everyone waiting is entitled to cast a ballot.  

democrats retained control of the senate with surprising ease. republicans did the same in the house, making it likely speaker john boehner of ohio - obama's partner in unsuccessful deficit talks - would reclaim his seat at the bargainig table. the election emerged as a choice between their belief in very different governmental roles: whether to occupy a major, front-row place in american lives, or, in the background as a less-obtrusive facilitator for private enterprise & entrepreneurship.

the economy was rated the top issue by about 60% of voters surveyed as they left their polling places. but more held former president george w. bush responsible for current circumstances than obama did after four years in office. unemployment stood at 7.9% on election day, higher than when obama was inaugurated. despite signs of progress, the economy is struggling amidst the worst recession in u.s. history. about 4 in 10 said the economy is on the mend, but more than that said it was stagnant or getting worse more than four years after the near-collapse of 2008.

according to exit polls, 53% of voters said obama is more in touch with people like them, compared to 43% for romney. about 60% said taxes should be increased, taking sides on an issue which divided obama & romney. obama wants to raise taxes for people making $250,000, but romney does not. in 2008, obama was elected the first black president. in 2012, romney became the first mormon to appear on a general election ballot. yet neither race nor religion dominated this campaign.

obama reiterated during his term america is recovering from the worst recession since the great depression. while he conceded progress has been slow, he accused romney of recycling outdated republican policies which help the wealthy & hurt the middle class. romney countered by saying a second obama term could mean a repeat recession in a country where economic growth is weak & unemployment is worse four years after obama took office. furthermore, romney believes his experience as a successful businessmen would help him create policies to make america healthy.

here is the state-by-state breakdown for each candidate:

barack obama - california, colorado, connecticut, delaware, district of columbia, hawaii, illinois, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, new mexico, new york, oregon, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, virginia, washington & wisconsin.

mitt romney - arizona, arkansas, georgia, idaho, indiana, kansas, kentucky, louisiana, mississippi, missouri, nebraska, north carolina, north dakota, oklahoma, south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas, utah, west virginia & wyoming.