Obama's re-election is good news. He's a better choice than the markedly inferior alternative, I believe -- but that's about as much enthusiasm as I can muster until he gives us a better idea of what he intends to do with his second term. The confrontational tone he struck in the campaign succeeded -- he won -- though I continue to think he would have won by a bigger margin if he'd governed and campaigned more like the Obama of 2008. In any event, I doubt the harder line is a formula for a successful second term. My main hope is that he reverses what I think was the biggest error of his first four years and starts making the case for a Bowles-Simpson approach to medium-term deficit control. That's an opportunity the Obama of 2008 wouldn't have needed to be offered twice.
I enjoyed Tom Bevan's and Carl Cannon's thorough and persuasive account of the 21 things that decided the election in Obama's favor. A useful document. I'd be interested to read the article listing the 21 things that would have decided the election for Romney, had he won not all that many more votes in just the right places. I'm sure that piece was written and ready to go. Maybe I can prevail on Carl, a friend of mine from his National Journal days, to give me a look. Shame to waste it.