President Barack Obama defeats Romney to win re-election

[Pattaya Daily News]

President Barack Obama has been re-elected to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

America’s first black president secured more than the 270 votes in the electoral college needed to win.

In his victory speech before supporters in Chicago, Mr Obama said he would talk to Mr Romney about “where we can work together to move this country forward”.

Mr Obama prevailed despite lingering dissatisfaction with the economy and a hard-fought challenge by Mr Romney.

His Democrats also retained their majority in the Senate, which they have held since 2007.
The Republicans kept control of the House of Representatives, which analysts say will likely result in more of the gridlock that characterised Mr Obama’s first term, with the House and the president at loggerheads on most legislation.

In his address, the president challenged his opponents, asking them to work with him.

With only Florida’s 29 electoral votes still undecided, Mr Obama won 303 electoral votes to Mr Romney’s 206.

The popular vote, which is symbolically and politically important but not decisive in the race, remains very close.

‘One nation’ speech
Mr Obama congratulated Mr Romney and Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan on their hard-fought campaign.

“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,” he said.

Mr Obama said he was returning to the White House “more determined, and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do, and the future that lies ahead”.

He pledged to work with Republican leaders in Congress to reduce the government’s budget deficit, fix the tax code and reform the immigration system.

“We are an American family and we rise and fall together as one nation,” he said.

In Boston, where his campaign was based, Mr Romney congratulated the president and said he and Mr Ryan had “left everything on the field” and had given their all in the campaign.

Referring to the struggling economy, Mr Romney said now was not the time for “partisan bickering and political posturing”, and that Republicans and Democrats must “put people before politics”.

“I so wish that I had been able to fulfil your hopes to lead the country in a different direction but the nation chose another leader and so I join with you to earnestly pray for [Mr Obama] and for this great nation,” he said.

Under the US constitution, each state is given a number of electoral votes in rough proportion to its population. The candidate who wins 270 electoral votes – by prevailing in the mostly winner-takes-all state contests – becomes president.

On Tuesday, the president held the White House by assembling solid Democratic states and a number of important swing states such as Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin. His narrow victory in Ohio, a critical Mid-Western swing state, sealed the victory.

In other key ballots:

- Voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington state approved same-sex marriage in local referendums
- Colorado and Washington state voted to legalise recreational use of marijuana
- California voters rejected a proposal to abolish the death penalty
- Puerto Ricans voted in a referendum on whether to maintain their status as a US “free associated state”. Early results suggest a majority answered “No”, voting in favour of becoming the 51st US state, if Congress approves the move.

Billions spent
Mr Romney won North Carolina and Indiana, both of which Mr Obama won in 2008, as well as the solid Republican states.

But he was unable to win in Ohio or other states needed to breach the 270 threshold.

Also on Tuesday’s ballot were 11 state governorships, a third of the seats in the 100-member US Senate and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

Mr Obama’s victory came despite lingering high unemployment – 7.9% on election day – and tepid economic growth.

But voters gave him credit for his 2009 rescue of the US car industry among other policy accomplishments, and rewarded him for ordering the commando mission that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan last year.

He and Mr Romney, as well as their respective allies, have spent more than $2bn (£1.25bn) – largely on adverts in swing states.

Report by : BBC

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[UsUsUsandThem]

God Bless America

[dinger]

God help America

[jinx]

God help the right wing bible bashers.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2012 by jinx

[squared]

While I agree with you, don't you have to clean up something back home as well? Your anti-abortion laws? There simply is no abortion in Ireland, under no circumstances. Not even when rape results in pregnancy, not when when it's determined the fetus will be born disabled, not even when the pregnancy jeopardizes the life of the mother to be. You have something there in Ireland what even the most faithful Americans quit to dream to accomplish. How did you become an EU member with a law that violates a human right, anyway?

[jinx]

Yes, we need to 'clean up our act' as you put it, and I would be part of a newer generation awaiting my turn at the ballad box to amend that injustice the next time theres a referendum ,I deplore right wing politics & Draconian laws in any country, Ireland , America, etc. Even your country, ..I don't see your flag ..where are from,..? if I remember right you used to have one. Are you German ..?. I would love to have a debate about 'human rights'.

 

I just have a few points to highlight though.

 

1...where the mothers life is in jepody leads to automatic abortion, ...this still doesn't sratch off the rape & disabled points.

 

2...How did we become an EU member..? ..very simple..ANY MAN & HIS DOG, can become part of this mob. A loan shark isn't choosy who he does business with.

The EU is run by Greedy banks lets call them a loan shark agency. Some of the founding fathers of the EU have a far from 'clean bill of Health' in their past history in 'human rights'. The human rights gets side tracked through finance..which leads to my next point.

 

3.. In 2010,....When the Three Irish ladies challenged the European courts to side with them to side against Ireland's dismal abortion laws, who did the EU courts side with ..?..they sided with the Irish Government, ..hmmm, ..I wonder why ..?maybe the billions of interest we have to pay them back, along with a host of BIGGER European states, we wouldn't want to rock the boat now.

 

4..Ireland joined The European union in 1972 before Spain & Portugal did in 1986, Why did I mention these

other countries ? They also had a 'no abortion' law written into their constitution which they only changed in 2008 & 2010. There was no security guard on the door in Brussels that day to stop their entrance to membership, ..why should it have been any different for Ireland..?

 

5... Their laws were changed in 2008' and 2010' does this seem a bit on a conveint time to do so,? ..oh yeah it was the beginning of a world recession and a crawl on ones knees to that great institution of high moral standards....The EU.

 

I'm sure if we were to talk all day about the laws and human rights of this world we could talk about the indigenous rights of Aboriginal Australians or the native American Indian.

Edited November 9, 2012 by jinx

[squared]

East German, and you can't choose the country and its flag from the drop-down menu, it's out of business. Why the hard feelings towards the EU? 99% of all all EU citizens alive have never been to war between any of the EU members, there is wealth, social security, you can travel freely, and settle in any of the countries. Valuable rights, compared to say a country like Thailand. I don't enjoy much to cross the Thai border, or the regular visits to immigration. The German-speaking nations introduced the right to a home country to the human-rights bill.

[jinx]

Hold on a minute, your flag is on here as from 1989, that is your flag, your new 'unified' German flag or are you still proud of your eastern bloc root's,? theres nothing wrong with that, there wasn't to many people listening to human rights behind those high and unfair walls. You seem very pro Europe, ..but you have made a clear distinction in you statement ; EAST GERMAN, ..surely you are just 'German' now,..new Germany, new Europe,new flag ..etc. maybe we should ask the mods to provide a European members flag to this site..maybe it's there already.

 

As for EU citezens having never been to war with each other, ..I would say NOT YET, we had war in the balklands or former Yugoslavia right on our door steps, which was very neatly brushed aside by the EU, ..remember it was a 'the united nations' who manned all military operations, that included America, a non European Union member. My point being the EU still counts on American / United Nations backing in conflict, why can't the EU fight its own battles ? ..very simple answer its not powerful enough. Don't forget the former Soviet Union countries are not the happiest bunch of campers in the world, both financially and politically. Ukrainian politicians being poisoned, and what about Chechnya ..? The First World War was born in the balk land region of Europe. Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia are candidate countries to join the EU, ..so never say never.

 

I would disagree with 99% of people been happy with EU involvement, maybe pre 2008 that statistic would be have been partly true. A major EU country like Great Britain has never really fully endorsed the European Union, they joined on America insistence to keep an eye on De Gaul's France. Now France have endorsed a left wing leader who is really painting a smile on his face every time he meets Angela Merkel. Britain were wise to keep their own currency, as it will be a useful tool to climb out of resession faster. The European Union is being held together at the moment by just a thread, Greece has its debt cut by 50% to keep the union together. The fact you can travel freely in between European states is good but not fantastic. Most people from richer countries like yours moan when people cross your borders from poorer EU countries hoping for a better life, you can't have it both ways.

 

As for travelling in Thailand and around its borders, that's their call not ours. Thailand has never been colonised unlike its neighbours, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, they have a monarch as head of state and a democratic system. ( as democratic as you get in the region). This region has a pan asian group set up , which enables a thai to travel freely in any region of this group, (however working in other countries is mostly illegal ), Laos, philopeans etc. They are not to worried about the rights and travel plans of Western Europeans coming to their shores for cheap booze and boom,boom. I think they look after their own affairs first, doesn't every country.

Edited November 11, 2012 by jinx

[squared]

I found it difficult to change the allegiance when my country got attached to a bigger one, so I cared more for myself or say my town than national greatness. The Yugoslavians are learning now that there is a substitute for nationalism, religions, and ideologies; consumption, and will join in a few years. That's it, Turkey and the remaining Soviet Republics stay out. I don't know if the EU will remain peaceful. Politicians will jump at the opportunity like Thatcher did in the Falklands War to save their asses again, no doubt. But I feel it was a privilege to grow up in a country for which peace was the first priority, and that the EU continues to keep wars away from us. The red-shirt riots in Bangkok two years ago which accomplished nothing produced more corpses, than the turnovers in 10 or so whole nations of the Eastern bloc. I had a good and long look at the commotion in Pattaya in April 2009, were almost everyone of the waring factions was armed with axes, clubs, rocks. That's not how we got rid of the Soviets and their servants, and in my book, that is the difference between civilized people, and savages. To forgo violence achieved more. I'm not sure if it was beneficial that Thailand wasn't colonized. It lost half of the territory King Taksin ruled over, and never got access to Latin script which is a disadvantage in our globalized world. A disadvantage for Thais who go abroad, a disadvantage to be understood by foreigners who come here, to inspire interest to access their culture, and contribute anything to it. It isolates them.