7th November, 2012
Barack Hussein Obama, whose father hailed from Kenya, East Africa, has been re-elected President of the United States of America, major networks projected early Wednesday.
Obama, 51, defeated Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, clinching at least 303 electoral votes out of 538.
The Democrat needed only 270 electoral votes to carry the day. However, with 303 electoral votes already won, Obama was still leading in Florida, a battleground state with 29 electoral votes at press time.
So severe was Romney’s defeat that Obama carried Michigan, the state where the Republican was born, and won Massachusetts, the state where Romney was governor.
Obama also won Wisconsin, the state where Paul Ryan, Romney’s running mate, hails from, and carried Ohio, a highly contested battleground state never lost by any Republican president.
No Republican has ever won the White House without carrying the state of Ohio, and no candidate since 1960 has become president without winning Ohio.
In defeating Mitt Romney, Obama carried Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wisconsin, a near sweep of the battleground states.
Obama’s Democrats also retained control of the Senate while Republicans won back their majority at the House of Representatives.
After making history in 2008 as the first black U.S. president, Obama has become the first black president to be re-elected in the US, and the only Democrat to have won a second term since 1996.
As major networks began projecting Obama as the winner of the presidential election late into the night, the president’s headquarters in Chicago roared in cheering jubilations, even as the ballots were still being counted in many states.
“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,” Mr. Obama told his supporters early Wednesday.
“We know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.”
Obama said his victory reminded him that America is a country where, anyone can succeed.
The New York Times reported that for more than 90 minutes after the networks projected Obama as the winner, Romney held off calling him to concede.
“And as the president waited to declare victory in Chicago, Mr. Romney’s aides were prepared to head to the airport, suitcases packed, potentially to contest several close results. But as it became increasingly clear that no amount of contesting would bring him victory, he called Mr. Obama to concede shortly before 1 a.m.,” the newspaper said.
“I wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady and their daughters,” Mr. Romney told his supporters in Boston. “This is a time of great challenges for America, and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.”
CNN reported that about 60 percent of Americans voted based on the US sluggish economy, an area that favoured Romney before Election Day. The network also reported that 73 percent of those who cast their ballots were whites while only 17 percent were blacks. About 10 percent were Hispanics and other minority groups.
For Mr. Obama, the result brings a ratification of his sweeping health care act, which Mr. Romney had vowed to repeal. The law will now continue on course toward nearly full implementation in 2014, promising to change significantly the way medical services are administrated nationwide, the New York Times said.
Americans delivered a final judgment on a long and bitter campaign that drew so many people to the polls that several key states extended voting for hours. In Virginia and Florida, long lines stretched from polling places, with the Obama campaign sending text messages to supporters in those areas, saying: “You can still vote,” the New York Times said.
The campaign by both candidates gulped between $2 billion and $6 billion, it was reported.
By Simon Ateba