President Obama wins key swing states to earn a second term

President Barack Obama rode a wave of support from moderates, women and minorities to win re-election Tuesday by defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney in key battleground states.

While it didn’t play out the same as 2008, President Obama won key state after key state to earn a second term photo Fanch50

“Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come,” Obama said to endless cheers.

“We will disagree, sometimes fiercely,” Obama said, noting that “progress will come in fits and starts” and the victory Tuesday night “won’t end all the gridlock.”

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S SPEECH – HERE

In a brief speech he delivered alone, Romney congratulated and said his prayers would be with the president at such a challenging time for the country.

“At a time like this we can’t risk partisan bickering and political posturing,” Romney said, later adding that he wished he had “fulfilled your wishes to lead this great country in a different direction.”

Romney’s wife, Ann, and most of his family, as well as running mate Rep. Paul Ryan and his family then came on the stage for a few minutes in what was a subdued farewell.

With 303 electoral votes, battleground states all seemed to go Obama’s way. Pennsylvania was thought to be possible steal for Romney on Friday, but Obama won handily by 5%. There are several states that are essentially a tossup or close to call, but the victory had been won.

The biggest victory for the President appears to have been with Hispanic voters.

An impreMedia-Latino Decisions poll released Tuesday as an alternative to exit polls found Obama had won 75 percent of Latino voters nationwide, while exit polls found him with around 70 percent Latino support, with figures likely to change throughout the night as tallies come in from the West Coast.

Either way, the margins are likely bigger than ever before, and bad news for the GOP.

“Republicans are going to have to have a real serious conversation with themselves,” said Eliseo Medina, an immigration reform advocate and secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union. “They need to repair their relationship with our community. … They can wave goodbye to us if they don’t get right with Latinos.”