Update: This article was updated at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 7 with quotes from Gov. Chris Christie.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were re-elected Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan.
NBC News called the presidential election for Obama around 11:15 EST. The president sent a message on Twitter at 10:14 saying simply, "This happened because of you. Thank you."
"The task of perfecting our union moves forward. It moves forward because of you," Obama told supporters in his acceptance speech shortly after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. "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.
"We are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people."
The president, who visited the Garden State last week in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, pointed to government leaders on both sides of the aisle in New Jersey and New York who have come together to assist those in need.
"I've seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York where leaders of every party and every level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from a wreckage of a terrible storm," Obama said.
The Obama campaign won the most expensive presidential race ever, with both parties raising about $2.6 billion. The race was filled with negative campaigning on both sides, from President Obama attacking Romney’s business experience with Bain Capital to Romney lambasting Obama’s handling of the economy.
The race tightened during the final months of the campaign, with gaffes and surges from both candidates. After a weak performance after the Republican Convention, Romney surged following Obama’s listless performance after the first presidential debate. Nevertheless, the president cemented a lead in battleground states heading into Tuesday’s election.
Obama won New Jersey and its 14 electoral votes.
Obama’s performance in the Garden State wasn't surprising, considering New Jersey has voted for the Democratic candidate in recent presidential elections.
Newark Democratic Mayor Cory Booker offered his support of the president on Twitter soon after the race was called.
"Congratulations PRESIDENT Barack Obama - again!," Booker wrote.
In a brief concession speech delivered before 1 a.m., Romney urged the country's political leaders to come together in a spirit of bipartisanship.
"This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation," Romney said. "The nation is at a critical point. At times like these we can't risk partisan bickering."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who campaigned across the country for Romney, said he was disappointed by the election results. He dismissed criticism leveled by some Republicans that he had "embraced" Obama during the president's visit to the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
"I was the first governor in America to endorese Mitt Romeny. I've
worked harder than any other surrogate other than Paul Ryan," Christie said during a press conference Wednesday. "I'm extraordinarily disappointed. I put a lot of time and effort into the Mitt Romney campaign."
Flip your comment around. Are you willing to hold Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Obama responsible for the debt and deficits? Why not admit it now. They won!!
And, you statement about 18-28 year olds; this is what the paper said: Sporting items were the most common cause of injuries among people of all ages. These included bicycles as well as basketball, soccer, football and baseball equipment. So it might be because 18-28 year old are more active where that type of injury is sustained. But, your statement is a typical Republican remark - just say it without supporting facts. Thank God for Obama. He is not a war monger like Romney and he is more concerned with his job as president than checking out his 401K daily as Romeny says he does. And doesn't enjoy offshore bank accounts and sending his business overseas.
FACT: Obama's LARGEST support group: 18-29 year olds. FACT: largest group to visit ER for injured genitals: 18-28 year olds.
Does this count as empirical data? How about this? GM (the one that went bankrupt) was the largest foreign car maker in China in 2008, battling for supremacy there with Volkswagen. The “new” GM has continued that overseas success. It sold a record 231,183 vehicles in China in May, up 21 percent from a year earlier, for example. That compares with 245,256 vehicles sold in the United States Here's the twist. GM is a multinational company. Not being in China would be stupid. Facts are GM is in China and builds cars in China.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2012/08/12/outsourcer-in-chief-obama-of-general-motors/
Axelrod received a cell call from the White House after the show and a presidential aid wanted to know what the hell he thought he was doing by going on Meet the Press show, and giving away all of those stats. and demographics on live TV. Dosen't he realize that the opposition watches and records that show ???? Axelrod told the presidental aid to take a deep breath and to relax because all of the stats and demographics he had volunteered and had given away were over 10 years old and were totally useless for the upcoming election in 2012 !!! The Republicans sure were watching that show and wrote down everything he said, and then applied it to their strategy end game for this election !!! David Axelrod is a genius and worth every dime of the $25 million the Democratic party paid him !!!! (he may even get a bonus)
How about the biggest of them all? Apple? Do they really have to make Iphones and profit $45 billion instead of making them in the US of A?
Zipper accidents only represent 1.8% of all genitial injuries. 98.2% are due to over usage (for the age groups of 18-28) Remember ?
Answer - lay them off.
*sigh*, but seriously, yes. I remember fondly.
These are also the same people living back at home with their parents because they cannot find a job or afford their own apartment, not a house, because that is just a pipe dream in the New America. Maybe when they finally learn the art of protecting their genitals, we will have a capable president who knows the logical way of fixing the economy... more people working = more people off unempoyment/welfare=more taxes being collected to pay down the debt. A simple solution.
Republicans didn't pass ARRA and even so, wasn't TARP or ARRA one time shots which added to the debt only once and are not annual budget items? Every year is $1 trillion or more....WHY is the annual budget spending $800 B a year more than it was back then? It's not from those 2 things. Something else is growing in the belly of the beast!! What is it?
Romney saves for his own retirement Obama has taxpayers paying for his Classic Democrat. Let someone else do it.
2008 - entitlements - $1.7 Trillion 2009 - entitlements - $2.2 Trillion 2010 - entitements - $2.0 Trillion 2011 - entitlements - $2.1 Trillion 2012 - entitlements - $2.1 Trillion Entitlement spending is $400 Billion a year more now than 2008 If the deficit in 2008 was $460B and is $1 Trillion now and entitlement spending is up $400 B, I wonder what is causing the deficit to explode? Wait, I got it.....ENTITLEMENT SPENDING!!! Paid for by CHINA
Instead of spewing all this hate towards one another, go VOLUENTEER and help your fellow man in New York and New Jersey.