A sigh of relief can now be expressed after an elongated election season. The constant vexatious campaign ads can now be put to rest, and we can look forward to being bothered by product ads once again! We can also expect to stop receiving the obnoxious phone calls that were burdensome to us for a couple of weeks. Both candidates spent a lucrative amount of money to campaign on a national level and state level. This money was more accessible with many loopholes in the Super PAC system. In this particular election, Mitt Romney raised a whopping $1.2 billion, while Barack Obama raised a hefty $1 billion. In the past, Super PACS had a limit that each contributor could give to a candidate. Now, with these glitches in the system, these Super PACs have been established as a subset of nonprofit organizations, where they are able to receive unlimited funds from donors. These contributors can now donate anonymously if they wish to do so, but some choose to reveal their identity. For example, Sheldon Adelson was a key contributor to Romney’s campaign, and he donated millions of dollars to help fund political advertisements, trips, and campaign headquarters, among other needs. Bill Maher notably announced he was donating $1 million dollars to the Obama campaign. The allocation of these funds seem perverse, and perhaps these funds could have been used for charity and other good causes or even towards the treacherous debt.
The race appeared to be close coming into the contest on Nov. 6, as there was a copious amount of vitriol directed at the president. Despite the harsh criticism that was aimed towards the president, Obama was able to attain the necessary 270 (and more) electoral votes to retain the Presidency. In the final results, Obama was victorious in many of the swing states such as Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa and Florida. These were essential to ensuring a second term for the president. There is still a lot to be accomplished, as Speaker of the House John Boehner made evidently clear. For one, the debt ceiling is an imminent disaster waiting to occur in a little over a month. Boehner seemed more willing to compromise after seeing the will of the people, as they convincingly reelected President Obama. He alluded to the fact that there will now be more wiggle room when discussing issues regarding tax codes and the economy. For Romney, many pundits on the right were flabbergasted by the results, as Fox News analyst Karl Rove seemed distraught by the results, claiming that it was still too early to project, sbecause Ohio was still in play. Rove helped raise and contribute over $200 million to conservative candidates, all of whom lost. The political fallout from this election had an impact of cataclysmic proportions, as the party seemed in disarray, scrambling for answers. Donald Trump was so aggravated that he insisted that citizens should march to Washington in protest. In lieu of the loss for Romney, pundits tried to examine what went wrong. Some felt he conformed too far to the right, while others felt he flip flopped too much. Some questioned his vice presidential pick, stating that Governor Chris Christie was a more prominent figure and would have been a better choice. Christie, a strong supporter of Governor Romney, was criticized by some republicans for praising President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, as they thought it put a damper on Romney’s campaign. Many pundits agreed that the Republican Party needed reform, specifically on social issues. Analysts presume that this election might trigger a civil war within the party, as some republicans will try to be more moderate on social issues, while others think that government should be stringent on social issues and see the Tea Party Movement as a better alternative. The Republican Party will likely try to attract a younger crowd, by picking a younger more diversified candidate. Many pundits speculate that Marco Rubio, a young Cuban-American senator from Florida, would make an adequate selection.
With the demographics changing in favor of more Latinos, minorities, women and younger voters, the question of appeal comes up in the aftermath of the election. The white vote was down 2 percent from 74 percent to 72 percent, while young voter turnout raised by a tick, increasing from 18 percent to 19 percent. These numbers will steadily turn in favor of a more diversified demographic, which in turn will likely favor the Democratic Party. The social issues will be a key factor in the 2016 election, as the Grand Old Party, will have to take this into consideration in the next Republican primary.
With all of the hoopla around election season fading, we can now sit back and wait another four years to see what strategies each party has in store for 2016.
Evan Smith is a third year political science major, with a minor in communications. He can be reached at es777403@wcupa.edu.