Dow closes at record high 14,539

Unemployment drops, stock market hitting record highs.

Mitt Romney said things would get better once the election was over...

The man behind Mitt Romney's "47 percent video" comes forward

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Scott Prouty, a bartender hired for the Romney fundraiser, comes forward as the man who recorded Mitt Romney's notorious "47%" comments.

 Prouty says he didn't go in with a grudge or the intent to "get Mitt Romney."

Prouty also shares that no one was told not to record or take pictures, and that there were several people at the event with their cameras out. Plus there was a video crew and sound crew.

He says he struggled for a few weeks about whether to share the recording. He says he felt an obligation to release it for the people who can't afford to pay $50,000 to hear what Romney says behind closed doors.

Who would know when he started recording that it would turn out to be a major factor in the 2012 campaign?

(via Towleroad)

Final numbers released for President Obama's reelection campaign

The Obama campaign released its final fundraising figures in front of an audience of top campaign donors and bundlers Saturday, announcing that the total combined fundraising efforts brought in $1.1 billion during the 2012 cycle.

Out of 4.5 million donors, 2.9 million were new donors who did not contribute in 2008. According to reports, the average donation was $65.89.

Online fundraising brought in $525 million, bundling and high dollar fundraising brought another $286 and direct mail brought in about $229 million.

(via Politico)

Florida: US Rep. Allen West loses his seat to Patrick Murphy; won't concede

The Palm Beach Post is reporting that US Rep Allen West has lost his re-election campaign to Patrick Murphy in Florida's 18th Congressional district, but West won't concede:

The final tally — still considered unofficial — put Murphy ahead of West by 2,429 votes. Overall, Murphy captured 166,799 votes to West’s 164,370 in District 18, which spans portions of Martin, St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties. An automatic recount is triggered by a margin of 0.5 percent. Murphy’s lead gives him a .7 percent advantage. All ballots in Martin and St. Lucie counties have been counted.

Those tallies include all election day, early voting and absentee ballots.

In addition to declaring on his Facebook page that the race is "far from decided," West filed lawsuits to have ballots and voting machines impounded in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. The judge in Palm Beach threw the case out on Friday, though, telling West's lawyers that their arguments fell "woefully short" of what was required for an injunction.

A St. Lucie judge is slated to hear West's case on Tuesday.

President Obama on the next cover of Newsweek Magazine

President Obama gives emotional thank you to his volunteers

President Obama stopped by his Chicago campaign HQ yesterday to thank his supporters for all their hard work and wish them well on their next moves.

"I am absolutely confident that all of you are going to do amazing things in your lives," he told them.

Then, after marveling at the volunteers' enthusiasm for the democratic process and their determination to help their fellow Americans, Obama got misty, saying, "Even before last night's results, I felt that the work I had done in running for office had come full circle."

"Because what you guys have done means that the work I am doing is important. And I'm really proud of that. I'm really proud of you." The volunteers began cheering as the president paused to wipe away tears. "What you guys have accomplished will go in the annals of history."

Florida finishes counting vote - final Electoral College Map 2012

From Huffington Post - the final Electoral College map, now that Florida finally finished counting votes.

Popular vote: President Obama received 60,193,076 votes or 50.4 percent, to Romney's 57,468,587 or 48.1 percent.

A clear victory.

Maine: Marriage equality supporters get the good news on election night

Very, very cool and moving.

The scene was very similar in my house on election night, even if it was just Michael, the dogs and I.

Celebrate, kids. Celebrate.

(via JoeMyGod)

Karl Rove: The President got "lucky" with Hurricane Sandy

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Karl Rove continues his temper tantrum due to the vast majority of the candidates he back losing in the 2012 election.

Now, he's saying that President Obama lucked out that Hurricane Sandy happened:

The president was also lucky. This time, the October surprise was not a dirty trick but an act of God. Hurricane Sandy interrupted Mr. Romney’s momentum and allowed Mr. Obama to look presidential and bipartisan.

A few points to make here though.

One, Romney's "momentum" was already slowing down before Hurricane Sandy.

Two, President Obama "looked" presidential because he WAS presidential in doing his job.

Three, Romney hurt his own image in a widely criticized “storm relief” rally in Ohio, where his campaign staff staged donations and took photos of the candidate posing with canned goods.

Karl needs to accept the fact that he spent over $100 million through his PAC -American Crossroads - and got precious little in return on his investment.  From MSNBC:

Six of the eight GOP Senate candidates that American Crossroads spent money to try to elect – Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin, George Allen in Virginia, Josh Mandel in Ohio, Richard Mourdock in Indiana, Denny Rehberg in Montana and Todd Akin in Missouri – lost their races, along with Romney. The group did, on the other hand, help to elect Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Dean Heller in Nevada.

Fox News panelists argue among themselves about "calling" Ohio

So this is what they do over on Fox News...

Well, now I know.

Nate Silver's grand slam home run

For months, Randy Report readers have watched me post the NY Times' Nate Silver's forecast for the election. Now I can show you why he's the numbers guy to follow.

Here is Nate Silver's final forecast prediction of the election:

And here's how it all actually played out. Pretty amazing.

Give the guy a pat on the back. Nate knows his stuff. Remember you can find him on the NY Times website.

Historic election night speech - Tammy Baldwin elected as first gay US Senator

This is so powerful for all America. Not only the LGBT community, but everyone. This represents overcoming so many bias and bigotries.

Forward.

President Obama's victory speech - 2012

Mitt Romney's concession speech

The speech I've waited months to hear.

Empire State Building to go red or blue as election results are determined

As CNN projects winners in each state, the Empire State Building will be exclusively displaying the race to 270 electoral votes with a vertical LED illuminated “meter” on its spire—blue for President Obama, and red for former Governor Romney.

And when CNN projects a winner in the presidential election, the full spire and upper floors change colors to either red or blue.

Dogs line up to vote in Election 2012

President Obama gives emotional goodbye to campaign trail

President Obama gives his last campaign speech of his career in Des Moines, Iowa, thanking his supporters.

Douche tweet of the day: Tim Tebow

Because, you know, Democrats don't work...

2012 Campaign in Two Minutes

From CNN Digital.

Ah, good times.

(dear lord, let it be over...)

Barbra Streisand on why President Obama deserves a 2nd term

The incomparable Barbra Streisand explains why she supports President Barack Obama.