Well, at least we don’t have to worry about Florida having to count their ballots several times before knowing who will be the next president.
The swing state of Ohio pushed our now re-elected president, Barack Obama, over the 270 electoral college votes he needed to win the election. And even though the full results of other battleground states were not yet in, Obama didn’t need them. His win was already secure. And at around 1:37 a.m. Eastern time, Barack Obama made his second presidential election victory speech.
Even when many of the polls projected Obama won Ohio, and therefore won the election, Governor Mitt Romney wasn’t in a hurry to make his speech of concession. His campaign sources said that they would not be giving a concession until Ohio had been officially called. But with Obama leading in Florida and Virginia, it didn’t take too long to realize that a win for Romney was a mathematical impossibility.
And with respect to tradition, Romney called Obama to concede the election and to congratulate him on his victory.
According to Romney’s campaign spokespeople, Romney hadn’t prepared a speech of concession. Romney was confident and ready to win once the polls closed and the numbers began to flood in. Having no preparation in the event of losing, was Romney approaching last night’s election with confidence or arrogance? Preceding his call to the president, Romney walked on stage at his headquarters in Boston to share his respectful acceptance of Obama’s victory and to give much gratitude to all of the people who supported him through his campaign.
Even though this was a hard fought campaign on each side, both candidates stated the importance of bipartisanship and their hopes for our government to make it work.
In Romney’s concession he said, “The nation, as you know, is at a critical point. At a time like this we can’t risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work, and we citizens also have to rise to occasion. … we look to Democrats and Republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics.”
After hearing from Romney, cameras cut to the Obama headquarters in Chicago to watch him approach the podium as a re-elected president. Bipartisanship was a key message in Obama’s speech as well. Obama said that, “By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won’t end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we must begin. Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over.”
Obama put aside the politics and told America that he wanted to make this nation better through compromise and communication, “And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you, and you’ve made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.”
For the years to come, Obama knows that bipartisanship is going to be the key for this nation’s progress. The votes that were cast were not merely based on the popularity contest between the two candidates, but between the changes the public wants to see. “Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual”, said Obama.
