The Disunited States of America: why Obama's pitiful mandate is bad news for the American people
An extremely negative campaign has entrenched divisions and animosity. The President's chances of achieving desperately needed bipartisan reform are remote
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Four years ago Barack Obama promised to be a leader for all Americans. I remember listening to him in Chicago's Grant Park as he talked about a country full not of blue states or red states but the united states of America.
What a load of baloney.
Though re-elected as widely predicted last night, the real lesson for Obama is that he has utterly failed to fulfil the promise of his neophyte campaign in 2008. The great 50-50 nation remains terribly divided, and the President's ultra-negative campaign this time round was an attempt to exploit those divisions rather than heal them. He won by championing the very thing that he promised to end.
As the evening progressed, it became clear that the states Romney had to win to pull off a surprise triumph simply weren't breaking for him. Pennsylvania, then Michigan, then Wisconsin all went to Obama. These were states where Republicans always had only an outside chance of victory - but without Ohio, they desperately needed one.
When Ohio eventually went to the President, as recent polls suggested it was trending, the race was over for Romney. The Republican's claim late yesterday afternoon that he hadn't written a concession speech may have been true; but fairly early in the evening, he will have put pen to paper.
For him and the Republicans, the message of this campaign is extremely clear: America has an appetite for moderate conservatism, but the Republicans didn't want to provide it - and were wrong not to. Romney was an impressive candidate pulled to the right by a party gripped by theocratic dogma. His poll ratings peaked - as after the first election debate - when he played to America's moderate majority.
For the Democrats, this is a sobering result, and certainly not a vindication of Obama's Keynesian economics. He goes into his second term with a weak mandate for his social, economic and foreign policy.
For America as a whole, the negativity of this campaign, the division and animosity it has engendered, and the lack of a clear mandate for the President makes the urgently needed bipartisan co-operation of an Obama second term seem implausible. The coming fiscal cliff is just the beginning of what could be a years-long impasse.
Obama's first term was far more successful than his critics allege. But his second term will be far harder than his supporters pretend.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments