The votes have been counted, and the people of the nation have spoken. Barack Obama will be president of the United States for another four years.
After a lengthy campaign and a neck-and-neck race for the White House, Obama carried enough states to boost him past the necessary 270 electoral votes, turning back challenger Mitt Romney's quest for the presidency.
For sure, Obama's job won't be easy. There is much work to be done in the coming four years. The economy continues to lag, unemployment is still too high and there is severe discord among the members of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. The problems won't be easy to solve, and solutions won't happen overnight. But Obama's promise of continued hope and change swayed enough voters to his side Tuesday. Obama's failed and unpopular decisions during his first term obviously weighed on the minds of some voters, but not enough to seek change by supporting Romney, whose vision for America included a smaller, less intrusive federal government and a repeal of Obama's massive health care takeover.
Obama's margin of victory doesn't represent a clear mandate from voters. America remains very much a nation divided, and it falls to Obama and other Democrats to make good on their campaign promises of reaching across the political aisle to work with the opposing party, something Obama wasn't willing to do in his first four years as president.
With Obama set for another four years in office, America continues down the same path as the past four years, and that gives us great cause for concern.