Well, I was wrong. I thought Mitt Romney might do rather better than it seems he has. As I type this CNN has just called Ohio for Barack Obama, confirming that the President will be re-elected to serve a second term as President of the United States. It looks as though Nate Silver’s projections are off too: with Obama looking likely to win Virginia and Florida it seems as though the President will do better – at least in terms of the Electoral College – than even the much-criticised Mr Silver predicted.
Add a series of crushing blows to the GOP in Senate races from Massachusetts to Missouri and you have a dreadful night for the Republican party. This is worse than a defeat; it’s a calamity.
For Obama this is a historic night. In some respects this victory is a greater achievement than his triumph four years ago. That, in the sour dog days of the Bush presidency, was an obvious “change” election.

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