Obama's Second Term

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DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA
DEMOGRAPHICS WORK: Minorities, Women, Young, Poor Back Obama; Romney Sweeps White, Rural Votes
Prez Hits Another Four, But Faces Tough 2nd Innings
Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN

Washington: US President Barack Obama won a hardfought second term to the White House after his colourful and diverse coalition of younger voters, ethnic minorities and liberal women overrode nationwide economic dissatisfaction and held off the challenge from a Republican vanguard of fading white conservative population.
On the face of it, Democrat Obama’s victory in an economically distressed America was impressive. He won 303 of the 538 electoral votes, comfortably more than the 270 he needed to retain
the presidency, with Florida’s 29 votes still to be confi rmed at the time of going to press. But the imposing Electoral College lead masked a relatively narrow margin of popular votes in battleground states that saw a tense fi nish: Overall, nationwide, Obama polled about 60 million votes to Romney’s 57 million.
Still, it was a remarkable night for the President, the fi rst American leader since World War II to win a second term in office amid high unemployment and a warsapped economy. For the triumph, he gave credit where it was due in his victory speech — “to the best campaign team in the history of politics” — and in the fi rst phone call he made after Romney conceded defeat, to the wily Bill Clinton.
Together they forged a coalition which will take some beating in years to come, unless the Republican Party dramatically recasts itself. The alliance consists of minority voters (Black, Latino, and Asian) worried about immigration laws
and Republican exclusivism; blue-collar workers, particularly in the so-called Rust Belt who are grateful to Obama and his government intervention in saving the auto industry; women passionate about reproductive rights and pay parity, and a young, urban, collegiate demographic unimpressed by Republican conservatism.
Desi doc in the House: Dr Ami Bera, 45, became only the third Indian-American to enter the House of Representatives, on a lead of just 184 votes against his Republican rival. Five other Indians in the fray lost. P 13 US DOESN’T SWING BOTH WAYS Obama retained virtually all the states he won in 2008, ceding only Indiana and North Carolina to Romney. Of the 2 key swing states, he won Ohio and was leading in Florida at the time of going to press
MAJOR CHALLENGES Fiscal Cliff: Unless Obama and the US Congress reach a deal, all Bush-era tax cuts will end on Dec 31, just as spending cuts kick in. In all, the US could be looking at tax increases of $399bn, spending cuts of $102bn and other expenses of $107bn, which could push the economy back into recession. Even if this crisis passes, Obama will have to keep dealing with a Republican-dominated House Foreign Policy: Obama will have to tackle a rising China, prevent Iran from going nuclear, try to resolve the civil war in Syria and oversee US withdrawal from Afghanistan. A chaotic situation in nuclear-armed Pakistan could be his biggest headache.