It's All Over...

Well folks, after what seemed to be an entire term dedicated to campaigning, the presidential race was settled last night, thankfully without too many dramatics or the spectre of a court battle hanging over the results. America voted, somewhat ironically, for staying the course rather than change, and ratified, whether purposefully or not, Obamacare and Wall Street reform measures with their votes.

They also left the President with the same split Congress on which he has placed the blame for the gridlock which has marked the second half of his first term. They also likely handed Democrats another Supreme Court seat sometime over the next few years.

Yet the President's mandate is far from clear. While Mr. Obama won a substantial victory in the electoral college, his surplus over Romney in the popular vote (by about the same number of votes as libertarian Gary Johnson gained, perhaps not incidentally*) painted a picture of an electorate which was less than enthusiastic about Obama's previous term. Just how the President interprets that split mandate is to be determined.

There were some certainties which arose out of last night however, particularly in localities where I have spent some time during the election cycle. For example, I will no longer have to hear about how 'our own casino dollars' are driving over state lines to WEST VIRGINIA! I won't have to hear two former governors ironically bicker about who was more bi-partisan during their terms in bids to reach the Senate.

There will be no more talk of Lie-A-Watha (at least until there is again). There will be no more approvals of messages, whatever purpose those are intended to serve. Finally, we have received confirmation that the 'Anonymous' reader who chided me for suggesting that shares of Romney were undervalued was, indeed, correct.

The end of the election also likely means the end of easy posts for me, as stories are never more likely to write themselves as they are during an election campaign. That said, there is no reason I can't get just a little bit more mileage out of Election 2012...


*UPDATE: The gap has grown a bit since I wrote this to the point where Johnson makes up about half the difference between Romney and Obama. The point stands, however that the popular vote count indicates less than a sweeping mandate...