Politics

Poor Chris Stewart. The former Air Force pilot had just won a landslide victory in his first bid for Congress in Utah, but the crowd of Republicans listening to his acceptance speech at a Salt Lake City hotel kept pointing to the massive television screen behind him.

"Do you want me to stop?" Stewart asked. "You would rather listen to Gov. Romney than to me, wouldn't you?"

Some in the crowd shouted "Yes!" and the sound of Romney's concession speech filled the room.

The much-hyped battle for the battleground states turned into more of a rout on Election Day, as President Obama swept through eight key states and looked on course to capture Florida.

Swing states — Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada, Colorado, New Hampshire — viewed as tossups a day before the voting fell without much fight into the blue column. Only North Carolina went for Romney.

Shall we dance?

That's the key question for Congress now that another budget crisis is near. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, today said he's ready to do a little two-stepping with Republicans to twirl away from the edge of the so-called fiscal cliff.

"It's better to dance than to fight," the former amateur boxer told reporters at a press conference. "Everything doesn't have to be a fight."

President Obama was the headliner Tuesday night, but most members of Congress also faced elections. Democrats retained control of the Senate while Republicans held on to control of the House. Now both sides of the divided Congress face significant challenges addressing the nation's fiscal problems.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. The president scores four more years; a divided Congress remains, well, divided; and guess what? Florida is still counting. It's Wednesday and time for a post-election edition of the Political Junkie.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDINGS)

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: There you go again.

VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE: When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad: Where's the beef?

SENATOR BARRY GOLDWATER: Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. We're sure you know this by now, but just in case, President Obama won reelection and will serve a second term in office.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I believe we can seize this future together, because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. We are not cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and forever will be, the United States of America.

Host Michel Martin has been checking in with two former speechwriters throughout the election season to sort through the rhetoric, and find out what messages struck a chord with voters. She reviews campaign messaging, and Tuesday night's victory and concession speeches with former presidential speechwriters Mary Kate Cary and Paul Orzulak.

The Maryland Dream Act, which allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, will stand.

With a 58 to 42 split, voters rejected a measure that sought to overturn legislation passed by lawmakers last year.

Inside Higher Ed reports:

Why didn't the Republicans win the White House Tuesday night? For insight, Steve Inskeep talks to Michael Gerson, a Washington Post colmnist and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

If you were plugged into the polls, odds are nothing really surprised you about last night.

Although exit polls showed a majority think the country is on the wrong track, voters still gave President Obama a second chance and four more years to govern. For a look at what to expect in a second term, Renee Montagne talks to Neera Tanden, who runs the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.

Once the news of President Obama's reelection spread, the congratulations started raining in.

NPR's Philip Reeves reports that one of the first messages came from British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"Above all congratulations to Barack Obama," Cameron said during a trip to Jordan. "I enjoy working with him, I think he is a very successful American president and I look forward to working with him in the future."

Correspondent Terri Schultz reports from Brussels that some leaders congratulated Obama through Twitter.

After last night's election, New Hampshire became the first state to have an all-female congressional delegation and a female governor.

The Boston Globe reports:

"Democrat Maggie Hassan, the former majority leader of the state Senate, beat Republican Ovide Lamontagne in the race to succeed Governor John Lynch.

It's refrain that will take you back to 2000: For NPR, Florida is still too close to call.

The big difference is that President Obama has enough of an electoral cushion that it would not affect the outcome of the elections.

Still, for record, here are the latest numbers from Florida, Ohio and Virginia, three states that gave pollsters headaches yesterday.

We'll start with Florida:

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, four years ago, the most surprising state on the electoral map was Indiana. That Republican-leaning state went for President Obama. Last night, Indiana returned to the Republican column for Mitt Romney, also elected a new Republican Governor, Mike Pence. But Indiana did not vote Republican for U.S. Senate. Richard Lugar, the longtime incumbent, lost a primary earlier this year, and his replacement on the Republican ticket lost last night.

NPR's Sonari Glinton reports from Indianapolis.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

In Wisconsin, Democrats won big just five months after a stinging defeat in their effort to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker. President Obama won the state, even though Mitt Romney chose Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. Plus Wisconsin voters elected Democrat Tammy Baldwin to be the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate.

From Madison, NPR's David Schaper reports.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Many Americans voted on issues as well as candidates yesterday. It was a historic night for supporters of same-sex marriage, and we'll have more on that in a moment.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

First, voters in two states, Washington and Colorado, approved ballot measures legalizing recreational marijuana use.

As NPR's Jeff Brady reports from Colorado, it appears both states now plan to regulate marijuana more like alcohol.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Five hundred thirty-eight electoral votes were up for grabs on Election Day. President Obama has won, so far, 303 of them, a comfortable majority. Mitt Romney has 206. Twenty-nine are still unaccounted for - the electoral votes of Florida. Too close to call there. Less than a percentage point divides the candidates. But down the ballot, Democrats did well. The party retained a Senate seat and picked up a few key congressional races as well. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Another storm hits the same region today. This one is a nor'Easter, less dramatic than a hurricane, but severe nonetheless, and authorities are warning of possible flooding. They've ordered evacuations in some low lying neighborhoods. As NPR's Martin Kaste reports, this storm means more demand for one of the region's scarcest resources - hotel rooms.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Go on up. We got somebody coming through, bub.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Tuesday was not an easy day for voting in the Northeast. Communities hit hard by last week's storm saw long lines and confusion. NPR's Robert Smith spent yesterday in New York City neighborhoods without power and has this report.

ROBERT SMITH, BYLINE: Before you can vote for a government you have to trust your government, and trust is in short supply on the Rockaway Peninsula these days.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

For weeks, months - make that years - the conventional wisdom has been that the presidential election would all come down to Ohio, and Ohio would be very close. Well, that was partially right. Ohio was very close, but as NPR's Tamara Keith reports, not as pivotal as predicted.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Jack Shumate(ph) flew into Ohio last Thursday from Dallas, Texas. He came here because this was the place where he felt he could really make a difference for his candidate, Mitt Romney.

President Obama will spend another four years in the White House after winning more than 300 electoral votes. In his victory speech from Chicago, the president promised that the "best is yet to come."

Winning matters. Having earned a second term, President Obama will attempt to build on and expand the agenda from his first, launching new initiatives on tax policy, education and immigration.

But having won the popular vote by a bare majority — and still facing a divided Congress — Obama may find it difficult to gather momentum for his policies.

Despite the close result in the popular vote nationwide, Obama wasted no time claiming vindication for his ideas. In his victory speech early Wednesday in Chicago, he tied his re-election to two centuries of American progress.

Supporters of President Obama partied outside the White House on Wednesday morning, chanting "Four More Years!" and "U-S-A!" — and singing off-tune renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner.

"I knew I'd be coming here. I just didn't know whether I'd be coming to protest or to celebrate," said AnaLysa Sawyers, 38, a teacher from Maryland.

President Obama won re-election despite an economy struggling to recover from recession and deep reservations about his signature first-term achievement, the nation's new health care law.

NPR's Liz Halloran explained how Obama's campaign organization helped him overcome these and other challenges. Here, NPR reporters have more about his challenges and successes in the areas of the economy, national security, energy and health care:

Voters in North Carolina put a Republican in their governor's office for the first time in two decades, and New Hampshire elected a new female Democratic governor.

But the closely watched tossup races in Montana and Washington, where Democrats currently serve as governors, remained too close to call late Tuesday.

Eight of the gubernatorial seats up for grabs are now held by Democrats; three are in Republican hands. Republicans currently hold 29 governorships, Democrats have 20, and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee is an independent.