from The Gray Area:

Everyone knows that the four pivotal states in the Presidential election were New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida and Ohio. Mitt Romney lost them all and there 64 electoral votes. Added to his 206 electoral votes, he would have the 270 needed to win. What would it take for Romney to have won those four states? Not as much as you think.

A review of the most recent popular vote totals reveals this; Romney lost:

– New Hampshire by 40,659 votes

– Florida by 73,858

– Ohio by 103,481

– Virginia by 115,910

Total votes needed = 333,912, so to win all four states; 334,000 would have done it!

The 3M popular vote victory and the 332 electoral votes make a convenient headline for an election mandate by President Obama. But,

– a closer look reveals it only took 334,000 votes in four states to elect the President in 2012.

– Romney won 24 states and President Obama won 26.

– The map of the US by county reveals that President Obama won 11 major cities and Mitt Romney won the rest of the country. A similar pattern since 2000.

With these kind of results, this should be a time for bi-partisan solutions which put the country first. If the President is good to his word during the campaign, he will be “open to any proposal” that will accomplish what is best for the country. We will see. And probably very soon.