Obama re-election - The changing face of America

We warmly welcome the re-election of Barack Obama as president of the US.

It was strictly an American election, but whatever direction the US takes is of global importance, and we wish him well in his efforts to grow the American economy.

After Mitt Romney carried the first televised debate, it looked like Obama might be in trouble. He was undoubtedly facilitated by the timely intervention of Superstorm Sandy, which allowed him to regain the spotlight by appearing presidential.

It was noteworthy that the president actually won his home state of Illinois and his native state of Hawaii, as well as Romney’s home state of Massachusetts and his native state of Michigan, along with Wisconsin, the home and native state of Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan. In the process, Obama won a commanding share of the crucial electoral college vote.

The most important issue in the minds of most voters was the economy. Three quarters of voters were critical of the American economy, but the majority of those blamed former president George W Bush, not Obama. Romney campaigned heavily against the spiralling deficit, but only 10% of voters considered it the most important issue.

Obama swept the north-east and the far west, but Romney won heavily in the centre of the country, with the notable exceptions of Illinois and the so-called midwestern Rust Belt of Ohio and Michigan. Obama’s bailout of the car industry seemed a major factor in his victory in those crucial states, where the role of the federal government was one of the central issues in the overall debate.

Romney opposed the bailout of the car industry. He argued that the federal government should stay out of such matters and allow the free market to decide.

It seems likely that the Republican candidate also paid heavily for endorsing a hard line on immigration. The Hispanic vote, which comprised 10% of the total electorate, went heavily for Obama, who also enjoyed widespread support amongst African-Americans.

Romney enjoyed a disproportionately high level of support among white men and older people, as well as high-income voters and evangelicals.

Although the Republicans won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives, where all members were up for re-election, the Democrats retained control of the Senate, where 33 of the 100 seats were contested. The Senate elections should have favoured the Republicans, defending only 10 seats, whereas the Democrats were defending 23 seats.

In Wisconsin, Democratic congresswoman Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay person to be elected to the US Senate. She defeated former governor Tommy Thompson, who was not helped by his son’s faux pas in suggesting, at least twice, that voters might send Obama “back to Chicago — or Kenya”.

In winning in 2008, Obama demonstrated that race was no longer an impediment to the election of a US president. By securing re-election, he has hopefully buried the racial issue forever.