Four more years. Barack Obama has been re-elected President of the United States, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and defying odds for an incumbent candidate running in the face of persistent economic problems.
Winning at least 303 electoral votes, he swept the battleground states of Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia Tuesday night. Florida's 29 electoral vote were still undecided early Wednesday.
Obama was also set to triumph in the nationwide popular vote, although far short of the 8.5 million ballot margin against John McCain in 2008.
“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,” he told his supporters in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“We know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.”
It was an emotional and dramatic evening, as Romney held off conceding defeat 90 minutes after television networks began projecting Obama as the winner at 11.30 P.M.
Posting a photo of himself hugging his wife Michelle after his victory was announced, the message was retweeted 549,091 times as of Wednesday morning, making it the most retweeted message in the history of Twitter:
Four more years. twitter.com/BarackObama/st…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 7, 2012
In 2012, political leaders from around the globe have also taken to Twitter to congratulate the President:
Warm congratulations to my friend @barackobama. Look forward to continuing to work together.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 7, 2012
PM Netanyahu Congratulates US President Barack Obama on his Election Victorybit.ly/SSG53R twitter.com/netanyahu/stat…
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) November 7, 2012
And in Barack Obama's small ancestral home, Kogelo in Kenya, jubilant crowds took to the streets to celebrate:
