4 more years...

Rewind 4 years earlier...it was a historic occasion when Barack Hussein Obama swept to victory as the first african american President of the United States. Fast forward to November 6th 2012, Obama is once again the toast of the nation and the world by securing a second term.

When Obama began his first term as the President of the United States he symbolized hope and the harbinger of real change. He did accomplish some major success like his pet healthcare reform which mandates insurance for all americans, bailing out the auto industry which helped save 150000 jobs in Ohio and neutralizing the threat of Osama Bin Laden. However his first term also meant a lot of unkept promises like the closure of Guantanamo bay where terror suspects are held without trial. Personally I have been disappointed with the continuing tirade by Obama and his administration against outsourcing of jobs to countries like India and China.

Agreed that the unemployment rate is high and a weak economy isn't helping but making the villains out of countries like India and China isn't going to solve the problem. U.S must solve its fiscal deficit, avoid getting involved in unnecessary wars, refocus on education, reform immigration and encourage innovation.

Coming back to the election, Obama has mastered the art of getting the non-white voters and the women to strongly back him. Is there a lesson in this for the grand old republican party? For starters, the grand old party should take a leaf out of Obama's book and start focusing on the changing demographics. In the coming years, the United States will see a sharply rising demographic trend of ethnic minorities of african americans, hispanics, asians and of course young men and women. It's this ethnic bloc which has delivered the numbers for Obama.

The republican party which still banks on the dwindling white voter should seriously introspect and undergo a major overhaul if it really fancies itself of having another shot at capturing the white house. If it would have been someone else the 47% comment would have sunk their chances but Mitt Romney miraculously survived. Also comments from Romney's republican party contenders about rape didn't go down well with voters especially women. Romney's 47% comment sent a message to the voters that here was a person who belongs to the elite club and who didn't care about the poor and the marginalized sections of the society whereas the perception of Obama was that he was one of their own man in the white house who came up the hard way.

Honestly speaking Obama looked good because the opposition to him was weak. Obama was hardly in trouble except for the bounce which Romney gained after the first presidential debate. However Obama had the last laugh when he fought back tenaciously in the second and third debate.

Obama winning 332 of the 538 electoral votes is pretty impressive but he will also be mindful of the fact that it was a mere 1% difference in popular votes between him and Romney.

Congratulations to Obama for defying history and convention by winning the presidential election with an unemployment rate of 7.9% and beating all odds even though his republican rival had outspent him.However Obama is pretty much aware of the challenges that lie ahead due to the divided congress.

On a lighter note, I couldn't help but laugh seeing the animated cartoon of the democratic elephant and the republican donkey fighting each other on the comedy central channel. The elephant is so exhausted beating the crap out of the donkey that it's huffing and puffing for breath. In the end, both collapse to the floor :)

(Image courtesy: http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0881985.html) (Image courtesy:http://hotbedinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Romney-Obama.jpg)
(References: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Americas-ethnic-makeover-routs-Mitt-Romney/articleshow/17135097.cms)