President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden
Courtesy: Chris Carlson / AP Photo
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Democratic US President Barack Obama handily beat Republican candidate Williard "Mitt" Romney in the contentious 2012 presidential election. Based on current logistics, President Obama received 52% vs Romney's 48% of the popular vote and Obama won 303 electoral college votes vs Romney's 206. Only 270 electoral college votes are needed to declare victory.
Florida's final results are not confirmed yet, but so far has Obama in the lead. Even if Obama was to lose Florida, it won't effect his victory, due to his successful, mass collection of electoral college votes.
President Obama accepted his re-election and delivered his victory speech in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
Read the full transcript of President Barack Obama's victory speech or courtesy of website Mediaite, Watch Obama's 2012 Presidential victory speech :
President Obama's 2012 Victory Speech transcribed by Roll Call:
Thank you so much. Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. 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. I want to thank every American who participated in this election, whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time. By the way, we have to fix that. Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone, whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.
Transcript of President Obama and Mitt Romney’s
remarks at the second presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y. on Oct. 16,
2012. Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service.
CANDY CROWLEY: Good evening from Hofstra University in
Hempstead, New York. I’m Candy Crowley from CNN’s State of the Union. We
are here for the second presidential debate, a town hall sponsored by
the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The Gallup Organization chose 82 uncommitted voters from the New York
area. Their questions will drive the night. My goal is to give the
conversation direction and to ensure questions get answered.
The questions are known to me and my team only. Neither the commission
nor the candidates have seen them. I hope to get to as many questions as
possible. And because I am the optimistic sort, I’m sure the candidates
will oblige by keeping their answers concise and on point. Each
candidate has as much as two minutes to respond to a common question,
and there will be a two-minute follow-up.
The audience here in the hall has agreed to be polite and attentive; no
cheering or booing or outbursts of any sort. We will set aside that
agreement just this once to welcome President Barack Obama and Governor
Mitt Romney. (Cheers, sustained applause.)
Gentlemen, thank you both for joining us here tonight. We have a lot of
folks who’ve been waiting all day to talk to you, so I want to get right
to it. Governor Romney, as you know, you won the coin toss, so the
first question will go to you. And I want to turn to a first- time
voter, Jeremy Epstein, who has a question for you.
Q: Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old
college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is
that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment. Can —
what can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I
will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?
MITT ROMNEY: Thank you, Jeremy. I appreciate your —
your question, and — and thank you for being here this evening. And to
all of those from Nassau County here that have come, thank you for your
time. Thank you to Hofstra University and to Candy Crowley for
organizing and leading this — this event. Thank you, Mr. President, also
for being part of this — this debate.
Yours question — your question is one that’s being asked by college kids all over this country.
I was in Pennsylvania with someone who’d just graduated. This was in
Philadelphia, and she said, I — I — I got my degree. I can’t find a job.
I’ve got three part-time jobs. They’re just barely enough to pay for my
food and pay for an apartment. I can’t begin to pay back my student
loans.
So what we have to do is two things: we have to make sure that we make
it easier for kids to afford college and also make sure that when they
get out of college, there’s a job. When I was governor of Massachusetts,
to get a high school degree, you had to pass an exam. If you graduated
in the top quarter of your class, we gave you a John and Abigail Adams
Scholarship, four years tuition-free to the college of your choice in
Massachusetts. It’s a public institution. I want to make sure we keep
our Pell — Pell Grant program growing. We’re also going to have our loan
program so that people are able to afford school.
But the key thing is to make sure you can get a job when you get out of
school. And what’s happened over the last four years has been very, very
hard for America’s young people. I want you to be able to get a job. I
know what it takes to get this economy going. With half of college kids
graduating this year without a college — or excuse me, without a job and
without a college-level job, that’s just unacceptable. And likewise,
you got more and more debt on your back. So more debt and less jobs.
I’m going to change that. I know what it takes to create good jobs
again. I know what it takes to make sure that you have the kind of
opportunity you deserve. And kids across this country are going to
recognize we’re bringing back an economy. It’s not going to be like the
last four years. The middle class has been crushed over the last four
years, and jobs have been too scarce. I know what it takes to bring them
back, and I’m going to do that and make sure when you graduate — when
do you graduate?
Q: (Off mic.)
MR. ROMNEY: 2014. When you come out in 2014 — I presume
I’m going to be president — I’m going to make sure you get a job.
(Chuckles.) Thanks, Jeremy. Yeah, you bet.
MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Jeremy, first of all, your
future is bright, and the fact that you’re making investment in higher
education is critical, not just to you but to the entire nation.
Now, the most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are
creating jobs in this country, but not just jobs, good-paying jobs, ones
that can support a family. And what I want to do is build on the 5
million jobs that we’ve created over the last 30 months in the private
sector alone. And there are a bunch of things that we can do to make
sure your future is bright.
Number one, I want to build manufacturing jobs in this country again.
You know, when Governor Romney said we should let Detroit go bankrupt, I
said, we’re going to bet on American workers and the American auto
industry, and it’s come surging back. I want to do that in industries,
not just in Detroit but all across the country. And that means we change
our tax code so we’re giving incentives to companies that are investing
here in the United States and creating jobs here. It also means we’re
helping them and small businesses to export all around the world in new
markets.
Number two, we’ve got to make sure that we have the best education
system in the world. And the fact that you’re going to college is great,
but I want everybody to get a great education. And we worked hard to
make sure that student loans are available for folks like you, but I
also want to make sure that community colleges are offering slots for
workers to get retrained for the jobs that are out there right now and
the jobs of the future.
Number three, we’ve got to control our own energy, you know, not only
oil and natural gas, which we’ve been investing in, but also we’ve got
to make sure we’re building the energy sources of the future, not just
thinking about next year, but 10 years from now, 20 years from now.
That’s why we’ve invested in solar and wind and biofuels,
energy-efficient cars.
We’ve got to reduce our deficit, but we’ve got to do it in a balanced
way — asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more, along with cuts, so
that we can invest in education like yours. And let’s take the money
that we’ve been spending on war over the last decade to rebuild America —
roads, bridges, schools. If we do those things, not only is your future
going to be bright, but America’s future’s going to be bright as well.
Year 2011 seems to be starting off as a "year of change" for Africans.The war-torn and oil dependent country of Sudan will undergo significant changes this year amid the results of a landslide vote from South Sudan to secede from the north. Southern Sudan is jubilant over the outcome of gaining its independence after enduring genocide, oppression and slavery under the regime of wanted war-crimes criminal President Omar Al-Bashir and the Khartoum government. Salva Kiir the President of Government of Southern Sudan urged the Sudanese people to be patient until their independence becomes official on July 9th.
"This is our day for freedom. We are ready to celebrate all night long," Santino Machar, a student, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
