A sigh of relief can now be expressed after an elongated election season. The constant vexatious campaign ads can now be put to rest, as 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 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 dollars, 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 donate anonymously now if they wish to do so, but some choose to reveal their identity. For example, Sheldon Adelson was a key contributor to Mitt Romney’s campaign, as he donated millions of dollars to help fund political advertisements, trips, campaign headquarters, among other needs. Bill Maher notably announced he was donating a million dollars to the Obama campaign. The allocation of these funds seem perverse, as perhaps these funds could have been used for charity and other good causes or even towards the treacherous debt.
This election was monumental in its own right, as Colorado and Washington have made the use of marijuana legal. This is a highly controversial decision because it directly conflicts with federal law, that states marijuana is an illegal substance. This predicament leads to a direct quarrel between federal and state government, as they will now have to iron out the details on how it will work.
The race appeared to be close coming into the contest on November 6th, as there was a copious amount of vitriol directed at the president. Despite the harsh criticism that was aimed towards the President, Barack Obama was able to attain the necessary 270 (and more) electoral votes to retain the Presidency. The final results Obama was victorious is 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 make 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 comprise 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 Mitt 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 to early to project, stating Ohio was still in play. Rove helped raise and contribute over 200 million dollars to conservative candidates, all of whom which 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 on Washington in protest. In lieu of the loss for Romney, pundits tried to examine what went wrong. Some felt he was 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. Analyst 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% from 74% to 72%, while young voter turnout raised by a tick, increasing from 18% to 19%. These numbers appear they 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 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.