Doug Mills/The New York Times
President Obama, Michelle
Obama, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, walked off Marine One to
board Air Force One in Chicago for a trip back to Washington on
Wednesday.
After $6 billion, two dozen presidential primary election days, a pair
of national conventions, four general election debates, hundreds of
Congressional contests and more television advertisements than anyone
would ever want to watch, the two major political parties in America
essentially fought to a standstill.
When all the shouting was done, the American people on Tuesday more or
less ratified the status quo that existed at the start of the day: they
returned President Obama
to the White House for another four years, reaffirmed Republican
control of the House and kept the Senate in Democratic hands. As of
Wednesday morning, the margins in the House and the Senate had each
changed by just a seat or two.
