Barack Obama Reelection Signals Rise Of New America

NEW YORK -- President Barack Obama did not just win reelection tonight. His victory signaled the irreversible triumph of a new, 21st-century America: multiracial, multi-ethnic, global in outlook and moving beyond centuries of racial, sexual, marital and religious tradition.

Obama, the mixed-race son of Hawaii by way of Kansas, Indonesia, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, won reelection in good part because he not only embodied but spoke to that New America, as did the Democratic Party he leads. His victorious coalition spoke for and about him: a good share of the white vote (about 45 percent in Ohio, for example); 70 percent or so of the Latino vote across the country, according to experts; 96 percent of the African-American vote; and large proportions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The Republican Party, by contrast, has been reduced to a rump parliament of Caucasian traditionalism: white, married, church-going -- to oversimplify only slightly. "It's a catastrophe," said GOP strategist Steve Schmidt. "This is, this will have to be, the last time that the Republican Party tries to win this way."

The GOP chose as its standard-bearer Mitt Romney, whose own Mormon Church until recent decades discriminated officially against blacks. His campaign made little serious effort to reach out to Hispanics voters, and Romney hurt himself by taking far-right positions on immigration during the GOP primaries. He made no effort whatsoever in the black community.

Obama reached out not only racially and ethnically, but in terms of lifestyle. Analysts made fun of, and Republicans derided, his campaign's focus on discrete demographic and social slices of the electorate, including gays and lesbians. But the message was one about the future, not the American past.

U.S. Census numbers tell the story. In the first decade of the new millennium, the Asian-American population rose 43.3 percent, the African-American population 12.3 percent, the Latino community 43 percent -- and the white population just 5.7 percent.

To be sure, the president won because of his stand on the issues -- health care reform, Wall Street regulation, the auto industry bailout, among others. But his victory is something more: a sense that we are all in this together as a society, no matter who we are or how we live our lives.

I saw this new America at the heart of the Obama reelection effort, in their campaign offices. In one office in Virgina, for example, the local campaign manager was Pakistani-American, the volunteers were of every race and background, the people heading out to handle the signup drive were Hispanic, and the event they were working on was a concert by Bruce Springsteen.

Republicans Mike Grimm, Christopher Gibson, Chris Collins, Richard Hanna, Thomas Reed and Peter King and Democrats Steve Israel, Daniel Maffei, Paul Tonko, Brian Higgins, Louise Slaughter, Bill Owens, Nydia Velasquez, Sean Maloney, Nita Lowey, Hakeem Jeffries, Eliot Engel, Joe Crowley, Jose E. Serrano, Charles Rangel, Yvette Clarke, Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Carolyn McCarthy and Timothy Bishop have been projected the winners of their respective New York House races by the AP.

Republicans Joe Heck and Mark Amodei and Democrats Dina Titus and Steven Horsford have been projected the winners of their respective Nevada House races by the AP.

Republican Steve Pearce and Democrats Ben R. Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham have been projected the winners of their respective New Mexico House races by the AP.

Republicans Chris Smith, Scott Garrett, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Leonard Lance and Jon Runyan and Democrats Albio Sires, Rush Holt and Frank Pallone have been projected the winners of their respective New Jersey House races by the AP.

Kevin Cramer was projected to be the winner of his North Dakota House race by the AP.

Republicans Jeff Fortenberry and Adrian Smith have been projected the winners of their respective Nebraska House races by the AP.

Washington looks poised to join Maine and Maryland in allowing same-sex couples to wed via public vote.

Given the state's mail-in voting system, Washington's final tally won't be official for the next few days. But the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found that support for Referendum 74 was leading 51.8 percent to 48.2 percent in the final hours of Nov. 6.

Read more here.

Republicans Richard Hudson and Robert Pittenger have been projected the winners of their respective North Carolina House races by the AP.

Republican Kansas state Senate candidate Steve Fitzgerald, who told a Kansas City group last month that Catholics could not be Democrats, appears to have defeated state Sen. Kelly Kultala (D). Returns on the secretary of state's website show Fitzgerald leading Kultala 52 percent to 48 percent.

Fitzgerald had told the Polish American Club that Catholics could not be Democrats, because the party platform did not mesh with Catholic teachings. Fitzgerald later told HuffPost that part of his message was for Catholics to help fix the Democratic Party to make it stronger.

The Kultala-Fitzgerald race was one of several competitive races where Democratic incumbent senators were targeted for defeat by conservatives. Kultala, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010, faced a barrage of mailers tying her to President Barack Obama on such issues as the economy and health care reform.

-- John Celock

@ edhenryTV : Fox News has learned that immediately after getting the concession call from Romney, President Obama called .... former President BClinton

@ aterkel : NH is run by ladies now -- all-female congressional delegation, woman in the governor's office.

Carol Shea-Porter has been projected the winner of her House Race in New Hampshire by the AP.

An Iowa state senator who died last month from breast cancer received the most votes Tuesday to represent Iowa's Senate District 22, The Waukee Patch reports.

Pat Ward, a Republican who was seeking reelection at the time of her death, led Democratic candidate Desmund Adams, according to unofficial results.

The state's Republican Party has until Nov. 13 to submit a candidate to appear on the Dec. 11 special election ballot in the place of Ward.

John Ward, the late state senator's husband, announced last week that he intends to seek the nomination.

Read more here.

-- Ian Gray

Republicans Blaine Luetkemeyer, Billy Long, Vicky Hartzler and Ann Wagner and Democrats Emanuel Cleaver, Jo Ann Emerson and Lacy Clay have been projected the winners of their respective Missouri House races by the AP.

Republican John Kline and Democrats Tim Walz and Collin Peterson have been projected the winners of their respective Minnesota House races by the AP.

Republicans Bill Huizenga, Justin Amash, Candice Miller, Dave Camp, Fred Upton, Tim Walberg and Mike Rogers and Democrats John Dingell, John Conyers, Daniel Kildee and Sander Levin have been projected the winners of their respective Michigan House races by the AP.

Mike Michaud has been projected to be the winner of his Maine House race by the AP.

John Delaney has been projected the winner of his Maryland House race by the AP.

John Tierney has been projected the winner of his Massachusetts House race by the AP.

Democrat Marie Corfield, an art teacher who skyrocketed to fame following a confrontation with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), has been defeated in her second bid for a state Assembly seat.

Corfield lost to Assemblywoman Donna Simon (R-Readington) 51 percent to 49 percent. Simon was appointed to the seat following the November 2011 death of Assemblyman Pete Biondi (R), who beat Corfield last year. The election was for the remaining year on Biondi's term.

Corfield had gained last-minute support from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which had named her to its list of 60 targeted races. Corfield had finished first in a grassroots poll of activists nationally.

-- John Celock

Republicans Lynn Jenkins, Kevin Yoder and Mike Pompeo have been projected the winners of their respective Kansas House races by the AP.

Republicans Rodney Davis and Adam Kinzinger and Democrats William Enyart, Bill Foster, Cheri Bustos and Brad Schneider have been projected the winners of their respective Illinois House races by the AP.

Allen West has lost his Florida House race against Patrick Murphy, NBC projects.

Republican Larry Bucshon, Jackie Walorski, Todd Young and Susan Brooks and Democrats Peter Visclosky and Andre Carson have been projected the winners of their respective Indiana House races by the AP.

The 'Redskins Rule' has been right in almost every election since 1937, but it failed this week.

The rule held that if the NFL's Washington Redskins lose their last home game before a presidential election, then the incumbent party loses the White House. (It didn't hold in 2004, unless you consider the winner of the previous popular vote rather than the actual incumbent.)

The Redskins lost on Sunday, but President Barack Obama won reelection on Tuesday.

RIP Redskins Rule.

-- Arthur Delaney

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R), who dropped a planned run for governor last year in the wake of a stripper scandal, has been reelected to a third term in the state's second-highest office. Kinder defeated former state Auditor Susan Montee (D) 53 percent to 42 percent.

Kinder, a former state senator, faced accusations that he had used state funds on hotel rooms in St. Louis, and that he invited a stripper he knew in the 1990s to share a St. Louis condo he rented. Kinder also faced a bizarre 2011 incident of his car being stolen after he left his keys in it and crashing into a gun shop before being torched.

-- John Celock

Republicans Tom Price, Phil Gingrey and Rob Woodall and Democrats Sanford Bishop, David Scott, Hank Johnson and John Lewis have been projected the winners of their respective Georgia House races by the AP.

Republicans Steve King and Tom Latham and Democrats Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack have been projected the winners of their respective Iowa House races by the AP.

@ chrismayphilly : CBS News: Romney calls Obama to concede; will speak to supporters before 1:00am. #cbsphilly

Maryland joined Maine in making history on Election Night, affirming gay marriage by a popular vote.

As The Los Angeles Times reports

, Maryland?s referendum to uphold the law held a sizable lead with about 80 percent of precincts reporting, putting the state on track to become the first below the Mason-Dixon line to legalize marriage equality.

Read more here.

Republican Jack Wu, a Westboro Baptist Church member running for a seat on the Kansas Board of Education, has been defeated in his race. According to results on the secretary of state's website, Wu was trailing Democratic incumbent Carolyn Campbell 72 to 28 percent.

Wu based his campaign on an anti-evolution platform, saying the state's schools needed to stop teaching the theory. Wu also said he wanted the state's schools to stop teaching students to become "liars, crooks, thieves, murderers, and perverts."

@ ABC : Washington, Colorado Vote to Pass Referendums Legalizing #Marijuana, @ABC News projects; Oregon Voters Reject Similar Measure

Republicans Mike Kelly, Tim Murphy, Scott Perry, Charles Dent, Joseph Pitts, Keith Rothfus, Bill Shuster, Lou Barletta, Thomas Marino, Glenn Thompson, Jim Gerlach, Mike Fitzpatrick and Patrick Meehan and Democrat Matthew Cartwright have been projected the winners of their respective Pennsylvania House races by the AP.

@ AshleyRParker : Two sources confirm: Romney will concede tonight.

Tom Rice has been projected the winner of his South Carolina house race by the AP.

@ AP : AP RACE CALL: Obama wins Virginia. #Election2012

Kristi Noem has been projected the winner of her South Dakota House race by the AP.

Republicans Chuck Fleischmann and Stephen Fincher and Democrats Jim Cooper and Steve Cohen have been projected the winners of their respective Tennessee House races by the AP.

@ FixAaron : Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) has won reelection, despite his scandal.

Maine voters approved gay marriage Nov. 6 through a historic public vote, the Associated Press is reporting.

The Portland Press Herald has additional information on what Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Chad Griffin hailed as a "landmark" move. As of press time, Maine had voted 54 to 46 percent in favor of marriage equality.

Read more here.

@ AP : AP RACE CALL: Democrat Martin Heinrich wins Senate seat in New Mexico. #Election2012

Cheering crowds gathered outside of the White House following the announcement by several news outlets, including The Huffington Post, of President Barack Obama's reelection. The pictures below were taken on the scene.

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-- Adam Goldberg

Republican Scott Tipton and Democrats Jared Polis and Ed Perlmutter have been projected the winners of their respective Colorado House races by the AP.

Raul Grijalva has been projected the winner of his Arizona Senate race by the AP.

Republicans Rick Crawford and Tim Griffin have been projected the winners of their respective Arkansas House races by the AP.

Jeff Flake has been projected the winner of the Arizona Senate race by the AP.

@ AP : Washington state becomes the first to legalize recreational use of marijuana: http://t.co/Ur8v5W8M #Election2012

@ jmhattem : NYT calls Virginia for Obama

Following Mitt Romney's projected defeat, an online activist group called "Dogs Against Romney" will morph into "Watchdog Causes." Instead of preaching the story of Seamus Romney, the Irish Setter Mitt Romney mistreated in 1983, the group will advocate progressive causes using the lessons it learned telling the world about how Romney strapped his dog's crate to the roof of a car for a 12-hour drive.

"Watchdog Causes, LLC seeks to help bring about positive social change by helping left-leaning activists, organizations, candidates and campaigns harness the enormous power of social media and interactive/online marketing," the group's website says.

-- Arthur Delaney

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/barack-obama-reelection_n_2085819.html

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