The Fix: 2012 election
Is America becoming more socially liberal?
Social issues worked in President Obama's favor on Election Day -- the same day that multiple states voted for the first time to legalize both gay marriage and recreational marijuana.
And that confluence has some suggesting the country is shifting to the left on social issues.
But it's really too early to say that.
Florida called for Obama, who wins electoral vote 332-206
The last state in the 2012 presidential race has been called, with the Associated Press projecting that Florida will go narrowly for President Obama.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Obama leads Romney by nearly a full point, 50.0 percent to 49.1 percent. (Full election results here.) Had the margin been within half a percentage point, it would have triggered a computer recount.
Stephen Colbert: Could the Nor’easter hurt Romneys momentum? (video)
Could Wednesday's nor'easter be hurting Mitt Romney politically? Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert expressed his worry on "The Colbert Report" Thursday night.
"I'm afraid that this new storm could hurt Romney'smomentum," Colbert said. "It could slow him down. I mean, he already lost the election -- that can't help him. But of course Florida is still being counted."
Watch the full clip below.
2012 election was chock-full of firsts
We saw lots of firsts in the 2012 election, with most of them having to do with the religion, sexual orientation and gender of winning candidates.
Below are the ones we have cobbled together.What did we miss? The comments section awaits. (And we will include the best ones in future updates.)
First president since Great Depression to be reelected with unemployment rate above 7.2 percent: Barack Obama
Congressional incumbents have a very good day
Election Day, as it usually is, was a good day to be an incumbent.
The president was reelected, only one incumbent senator was defeated, and only about two dozen House incumbents will not be returning.
In fact, most House incumbents who lost on Tuesday lost in large part because their district boundaries were drawn in redistricting to be tougher. In fact, more than two-thirds (15 of 22) of confirmed losers in the House were drawn significantly more difficult districts and were considered top targets because of it. Four districts were bound to feature an incumbent loss because two incumbents were put into the same district.
The biggest surprises of Election Day 2012
It's all over except for the shouting (and except where it's not over).
But did anything really surprise us on Tuesday? On the macro: Not really. Both chambers of Congress remained about as-is, and the presidency stayed with Barack Obama -- about like we had predicted.
But inside that big picture are a bunch of little Waldos that we thought were worth a closer look.
What races still arent called after Election Day?
Updated at 4:26 p.m. to reflect Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock's (D) gubernatorial victory.
Earlier, we updated withHeidi Heitkamp's (D) win in the North Dakota Senate race, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) holding his seat, and Rep. Allen West's (R-Fla.) campaign saying he does not plan to concede his race.
The Fixs election night viewers guide
Sunday's paper featured a detailed breakdown of the key races in all 50 states.
John Sununus not-so-greatest hits (VIDEO)
When John H. Sununu suggested Thursday night that Colin Powell endorsed President Obama because both are African American (he later backpedaled), he stoked controversy for what seemed like the umpteenth time this election cycle.
Sununu, a former New Hampshire governor and White House chief of staff under President George H.W. Bush, has been one of Mitt Romneys most active surrogates. Hes embraced the role of attack dog, lambasting Obama at every turn, from cable news interviews to conference calls with reporters. Along the way, his brash, outspoken manner has gotten him into some hot water. Heres a look back at some Sununu comments that have turned heads this election season.
Jeff Flake wins GOP Senate nomination in Arizona
Rep. Jeff Flake won Arizonas Republican Senate primary Tuesday, easily defeating self-funded businessman Wil Cardon. He will face former surgeon general Richard Carmona in the general election.
In other important races held Tuesday, Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) defeated fellow freshman Republican Rep. Ben Quayle whileRepublican Rep. Paul Gosar turned back a challenge from Ron Gould, a state legislator backed by the Washington based anti-tax group Club For Growth.
Primary day: Five things to watch for in Arizona and Oklahoma
Voters head to the polls in Alaska, Arizona, Oklahoma and Vermont today. Whats on tap: Another member-versus-member primary, a runoff to decide who the nominees to replace Oklahomas only congressional Democrat will be, and a Senate primary that was once potentially competitive, but no longer looks that way.
Obama the loner
The Post’s Scott Wilson penned a provocative piece over the weekend that cast President Obama’s current political problems through the lens of his loner tendencies.
Wrote Wilson:
This president endures with little joy the small talk and back-slapping of retail politics, rarely spends more than a few minutes on a rope line, refuses to coddle even his biggest donors. His relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill is frosty, to be generous. Personal lobbying on behalf of legislation? He prefers to leave that to Vice President Biden, an old-school political charmer.
The long, dark tea time of the American political soul
Americans are in a historically bad mood.
The question for candidates — from President Obama and the men and women running to replace him all the way down to people seeking state and local office in 2012 — is how to you win elections in an era where people feel so dismal about politics?
In an apocalyptic web ad released on Wednesday, Texas Governor Rick Perry embraces the “grim is good” approach to politics and dubs Obama “President Zero” for the struggling economy and the lack of new jobs created by it.
Blog Contributors
Chris Cillizza
Chris Cillizza is founder and editor of The Fix, a leading blog on state and national politics. He is the author of The Gospel According to the Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics and an MSNBC contributor and political analyst. He also regularly appears on NBC and NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show. He joined The Post in 2005 and was named one of the top 50 journalists by Washingtonian in 2009.
Juliet Eilperin
Juliet Eilperin covers the White House for the Washington Post. She served as the Post's House of Representatives reporter from 1998-2004, covering the impeachment of Bill Clinton, lobbying, legislation, and five national congressional campaigns. Since 2004 she has been one of the country’s leading reporters covering the environment, reporting on science, policy and politics in areas including climate change, oceans, and air quality. She is the author of two books, "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives," and "Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks." Follow her on Twitter.
Ed O’Keefe
Ed O’Keefe covers Congress and politics for the Washington Post. He previously covered the 2008 and 2012 campaigns and reported on federal agencies and federal employees as author of The Federal Eye blog. Follow Ed on Twitter.
Aaron Blake
Aaron Blake covers national politics at the Washington Post, where he writes regularly for “The Fix,” the Post’s top political blog. A Minnesota native and summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota, Aaron has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and The Hill newspaper. Aaron and his wife, Danielle, live in Annandale, Va. Follow him on Twitter.
Sean Sullivan
Sean Sullivan covers national politics for “The Fix.” Prior to joining the Washington Post in the summer of 2012, Sean was the editor of Hotline On Call, National Journal Hotline’s politics blog. He has also worked for NHK Japan Public Broadcasting and ABC News. Sean is a graduate of Hamilton College, where he received a degree in Philosophy. He lives in Washington, D.C. Follow Sean on Twitter.
Scott Clement
Scott Clement is a survey research analyst for Capital Insight, the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Scott specializes in public opinion about politics, election campaigns and public policy. He helps design and analyze all Washington Post polls, including the Washington Post-ABC News poll. Follow Scott on Twitter.
Rachel Weiner
Rachel Weiner covers national politics for Post Politics and The Fix. She came to the Washington Post in 2010 as a political web editor and anchored the Post's 2012 election blog. She was previously a web editor at The Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter.
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