Ameenah Hall, at left, rejoiced with friend Jamese Willis at a Presidential Election watch party at Bentley’s nightclub Tuesday when news came that President Obama had won a second term. WDBZ-1230 AM hosted the event. Photo by Michael Mitchell President Barack was in Cincinnati Sunday to sign and seal his bid for a second term, and on Tuesday Hamilton County and Ohio delivered him that term by giving him the Electoral College votes to push him over the top against Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Fittingly, Grammy Award winner Stevie Wonder closed out the Sunday rally with his song, “Signed, Sealed and Delivered I’m Yours ’’ to more than 13,000 supporters rallying for Obama supporters rallying for Obama at Fifth Third Bank Arena as Obama danced to the music. While the race was still tight in Ohio, the networks went ahead and called the state for Obama last Tuesday evening giving him the 270 Electoral College votes to win the election.

A large crowd gathered at Bentley s nightclub on Chester Road in Sharonville Tuesday night for a Presidential Election watch party. This reaction filled the room at 11:19 p.m. when Ohio put President Obama over the top of delegates needed to win a second term. Photo by Michael Mitchell Obama won 51.8 percent of the Hamilton County vote, and Romney received 46.9 percent of that count.

More than 71 percent or 405,300 Hamilton County voters cast ballots since early voting stated in Ohio on Oct. 2.

In the 2008 Presidential Election, Obama won Hamilton County with 52.0 percent of total votes reported or 208,802 votes to 47.0 percent of total votes reported or 187,862 votes for Senator John McCain, his Republican opponent at that time.

President Obama traveled to Ohio 21 times and held 28 political events and six offi- cial events in Ohio during the campaign.

Prior to speaking to a massive crowd in Chicago early Wednesday morning, Obama sent the following message to those who worked on his campaign: “I wanted to thank you first.

I want you to know that this wasn't fate, and it wasn't an accident. You made this happen. You organized yourselves block by block. You took ownership of this campaign five and ten dollars at a time. And when it wasn't easy, you pressed forward.

I will spend the rest of my presidency honoring your support, and doing what I can to finish what we started. But I want you to take real pride, as I do, in how we got the chance in the first place.

Today is the clearest proof yet that, against the odds, ordinary Americans can overcome powerful interests. There's a lot more work to do.

George E. Curry, NNPA Editor in-Chief, filed the following details of the Nov. 6 Presidential Election from Washington, D.C.: WASHINGTON (NNPA) – After riding to victory in Ohio on the strength of his successful auto bailout plan and a comefrom behind victory in Virginia and possibly Florida, President Barack Obama was re-elected on Tuesday to a second term. Obama was ahead of Republican challenger Mitt Romney Tuesday night by approximately 1 million votes in the general election, but is expected to win the Electoral College by a much larger margin when electors meet on Dec. 17 to officially determine who becomes the next president of the United States. Of the 538 electors, Obama needs only 270 to win. He is poised to collect approximately 322 votes in the Electoral College.

Although experts had predicted a long night before a victor would be declared, CNN announced Obama as the projected winner at 11:18 p.m., EST. With the outcome still unknown at the time in swing states Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia and Nevada, the Buckeye state put Obama over the top. Obama swept to victory on the strength of a progressive coalition of Blacks, Latinos, youth, unmarried women, Jews, union members and gay men and lesbians. He won about 40 percent of the White vote, down about 3 percent from 2008, and 69 percent of Latinos.

Speaking to cheering supporters in Chicago, Obama said: “While our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. We have fought our way back. And we know in our hearts that, for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.” Obama and Vice President Joe Biden carried most of the swing states, including: Michigan, Romney’s birthplace; Massachusetts, where Romney served as governor; New Hampshire, where Romney has a summer home; Wisconsin, the home state of Congressman Paul Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee, as well as Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Virginia.

Obama was leading Romney in Florida by about 45,000 votes, or 0.53 percentage points, as of early Wednesday morning. At that time, 99 percent of the state’s 8.27 million votes had been counted. Votes in Florida were still being cast after midnight as the polls stayed open. In a brief speech in Boston, Romney said, “I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction. But the nation chose another leader. So Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation.”

Democrats maintained their majority in the Senate and Republicans kept their grip on the House. In closely watched races, two Republicans who had made controversial remarks about “legitimate rape” and abortion – Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana – were defeated in their Senate contests. Elizabeth Warren, an outspoken liberal, defeated Republican incumbent Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Rep. Tammy Baldwin will become the first known lesbian to serve in the U.S. Senate after defeating former Gov. Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin. Obama’s re-election probably means that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, probably will not be repealed as Republicans had hoped. The president, who made two Supreme Court appointments in his first term, will most likely get an opportunity to make another appointment to the court, possibly two. Depending on who retires from the court, Obama’s appointments could alter the direction of the court, which has been drifting to the right.

His first challenge will be a budget showdown with Republicans, who want to reduce the deficit solely through spending cuts. Obama, on the other hand, is insisting on a combination of cuts and increased revenue, including repeal of the Bush tax cuts that favor the wealthy. Exit polls showed that the economy was the top issue on voters’ minds. The polls also showed that voters blamed George W. Bush more than Obama for the sluggish economy. In addition, voters also said they trust Obama more than Romney to protect the middle class. Obama’s re-election victory set off a round of speculation about what Republicans need to do to remain competitive in national politics.

Since the election, everyone has been speculating on whether Tuesday’s outcome will increase the prospect of House Republicans working more closely with the White House. Although no one claimed to have the definitive answer to that question, there were signs than the rancor between the president and conservatives is not likely to evaporate soon. Donald Trump tweeted about a dozen rants, including: “We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!”

He said in another one, “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.”

The Electoral College has its roots in the U.S. Constitution. “Article II, Section I of the Constitution “authorizes each state to appoint, by whatever means the legislature chooses, a number of electors equal to the combined total of its Senate and House of Representatives delegations, for a contemporary total of 538, including three electors for the District of Columbia.”