The news is in! President Barack Obama has been re-elected for his second term! Although a close (or maybe not so close? check out http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/ for those election forecasts) race, Obama earned 303 electoral votes in comparison to Mitt Romney's 206, leading to his victory.
In a country with varied views on practically every issue, there have been a multitude of reactions to Obama's re-election. With my curiosity, I came across this article from ABC news. Here, they provide a range of statements from political figures. Here are a few of my favorites:
Mitt Romney: As the other presidential candidate, it was obvious that a statement was needed from Mitt Romney. In this article, he gives the typical congratulations to Obama. I can't help but wonder what he really feels beneath those words. He must be extremely disappointed, but I'm happy to see that he does not abandon respect and class simply because he lost and must no longer campaign.
Sarah Palin: Although Palin does not outright speak about Obama or Romney, her disapproval of Obama's re-election is evident in her words. Her main concern is the economy, insinuating that Obama will only bring more debt. Maybe Obama really hasn't helped the economy in the past four years, but he is not the sole cause. I sense Palin feels some bitterness over the results...
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: McConnell says a line I could not express better: "The voters have not endorsed the failures or excesses of the president's first term, they have simply given him more time to finish the job they asked him to do together with a Congress that restored balance to Washington after two years of one-party control." In the debates leading up to the election, many citizens argued that Obama had not done what he promised during his presidency. However, now he has more time to continue his efforts in bettering the country. Being president is not a simple task, and McConnell can easily realize this.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell: McDonnell speaks another few of my favorite words of the article: "And we are bound together by something far more important than politics and policy: we are Americans, and this is a great country. The campaign is now over. It is time for us to heal and face our tremendous challenges. We will only be able to surmount those challenges by working together." The election is now over, and there are many issues to be addressed. If anything is to get done to improve this country, political leaders must come together and work as partners. McDonnell, like many other politicians, does not always agree with the President and Vice President, but he understands that they must overcome their differences to work through the problems of the nation. His words are extremely admirable.
No one knows for sure how the next four years will play out. There may be great change, gradual change, or no change at all. Despite the issues present in our country, citizens must unite and work with our re-elected president. I raise my glass (of water) and wish the best of luck to President Obama.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell: McDonnell speaks another few of my favorite words of the article: "And we are bound together by something far more important than politics and policy: we are Americans, and this is a great country. The campaign is now over. It is time for us to heal and face our tremendous challenges. We will only be able to surmount those challenges by working together." The election is now over, and there are many issues to be addressed. If anything is to get done to improve this country, political leaders must come together and work as partners. McDonnell, like many other politicians, does not always agree with the President and Vice President, but he understands that they must overcome their differences to work through the problems of the nation. His words are extremely admirable.
No one knows for sure how the next four years will play out. There may be great change, gradual change, or no change at all. Despite the issues present in our country, citizens must unite and work with our re-elected president. I raise my glass (of water) and wish the best of luck to President Obama.
Preach it! There will always be mixed reactions when a new president is elected. If a Democratic president is elected, a big number of Republicans would be upset and if a Republican president is elected, a big number of Democrats would be upset. I can understand that Republicans should be upset since a Democratic leader was elected. Their views on foreign policy, healthcare and how to stimulate the economy differ but if Obama won by about one-hundred electoral votes, he must have been doing something right. So I wish him the best of luck for the next four years and hope he can please the American people as well.
ReplyDeleteAgreed - and it's a testimony to Romney, in keeping with his studied moderateness, that he says all of the perfunctory right things that quite possibly every other losing candidate has and will say since.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, in reading that article, I think my favorite reaction might be Nikki Haley's - the South Carolina governor extends her congratulations first and foremost to the Romneys, thanking them on behalf of an America that is "deeply indebted" to them (presumably there were no undercurrrents to this statement) before tacking on congratulations to Obama.