Obama is projected winner: AP

President Barack Obama won re-election Tuesday night despite a fierce challenge from Republican Mitt Romney, prevailing in the face of a weak economy and high unemployment that encumbered his first term and crimped the middle class dreams of millions, the Associated Press reported.

"This happened because of you. Thank you" Obama tweeted to supporters as he secured four more years in the White House.

The president sealed his victory in Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and Colorado, four of the nine battleground states where the two rivals and their allies spent nearly $1 billion on dueling television commercials.

Ultimately, the result of the brawl of an election campaign appeared likely to be the political status quo. Democrats won two more years of control of the Senate, and Republicans were on track to do likewise in the House.

Romney was in Massachusetts, his long and grueling bid for the presidency at an unsuccessful end.

The two rivals were close in the popular vote.

Romney had 45.2 million votes, or 49 percent. Obama had 45 million, also 49 percent, with 65 percent of precincts tallied.

But Obama's laser-like focus on battleground states gave him the majority in the electoral vote, where it mattered most. He had 284, or 14 more than needed for victory. Romney had 200.

Yet to be settled were battlegrounds in Florida, Virginia and Nevada.

The election emerged as a choice between two very different visions of government — whether it occupies a major, front-row place in American lives or is in the background as a less-obtrusive facilitator for private enterprise and entrepreneurship.

The economy was rated the top issue by about 60 percent of voters surveyed as they left their polling places. But more said former President George W. Bush bore responsibility for current circumstances than Obama did after nearly four years in office.

About 4 in 10 said the economy is on the mend, but more than that said it was stagnant or getting worse more than four years after the near-collapse of 2008. The survey was conducted for The Associated Press and a group of television networks.

Democrats got off to a quick start in their bid to renew their Senate majority, capturing seats in Indiana and Massachusetts now in Republican hands.

In Maine, independent former Gov. Angus King was elected to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe. He has not yet said which party he will side with, but Republicans attacked him in television advertising during the race, and Democrats rushed to his cause.

Polls were still open in much of the country as the two rivals began claiming the spoils of a brawl of an election in a year in which the struggling economy put a crimp in the middle class dreams of millions.

The president was in Chicago as he awaited the voters' verdict on his four years in office. He told reporters he had a concession speech as well as victory remarks prepared. He congratulated Romney on a spirited campaign. "I know his supporters are just as engaged, just as enthusiastic and working just as hard today" as Obama's own, he added.

Romney reciprocated, congratulating the man who he had campaigned against for more than a year.

Earlier, he raced to Ohio and Pennsylvania for Election Day campaigning and projected confidence as he flew home to Massachusetts. "We fought to the very end, and I think that's why we'll be successful," he said, adding that he had finished writing a speech anticipating victory but nothing if the election went to his rival.

But the mood soured among the Republican high command as the votes came in and Obama ground out a lead in critical states.

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Exclusive - Amazon to win EU e-book pricing tussle with Apple

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Loomis returns to Saints in unsettled times

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Now that New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis has returned to work, the Saints need his crisis-management skills to be sharp.

The organization continues to be rife with unsettled issues, some of which have made its fan base uneasy.

So there was no time for Loomis to ease back into a routine Tuesday after serving his eight-game suspension in connection with the NFL's bounty probe of the Saints.

His immediate tasks include clearing up the status of Sean Payton's contract extension through 2015, which NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has so far refused to approve since the coach signed it in 2011.

Recent revelations that Payton is still not officially under contract beyond this season have only pushed anxiety-ridden Saints fans closer to panic. New Orleans has struggled while Payton has served his season-long bounty suspension, which, in the minds of many, has only strengthened the fiery and innovative coach's value.

Loomis also will have to oversee contingency plans in the event that defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Jonathan Vilma have to serve their own bounty suspensions, which so far have been delayed by legal moves.

The GM kept a low profile on his first day back.

The Saints did not make him available to reporters and he did not immediately respond to requests for comments about his return to his Saints duties.

Assistant head coach Joe Vitt said even he did not have much time to chat with Loomis when they met Tuesday morning, but Vitt stressed that people throughout the organization were comforted by knowledge that the GM was back for the last half of what has already been an extraordinarily eventful season.

"Listen, Mickey and Sean are the leaders of this building. It's not only great for Mickey to be back for our players and our coaching staff, but every person in our building," Vitt said. "Slowly but surely we're starting to get people back. Everybody knows here what Mickey means to me, but he also means just as much to everybody else in our building and our football team."

Vitt also sounded skeptical of the idea that Payton would leave.

"Our football team loves Sean Payton. Sean Payton loves this football team," Vitt said. "Sean Payton loves this city. And this city loves Sean Payton. That goes a long way. That's what I know."

At 3-5, the Saints are playoff longshots as they head into next Sunday's showdown in the Superdome with undefeated NFC South Division leaders Atlanta (8-0). Yet a sense of hope permeated team headquarters after a 28-13 victory over Philadelphia on Monday night that marked New Orleans' third victory in four games.

"I love this football team. I love the resolve. I love the togetherness. I love their work habits," Vitt said. "All that being said, we've got to get better this week."

If the Saints are to get better, such strides will have to be made in an environment of uncertainty.

Two people familiar with Payton's contract situation told The Associated Press that the Saints and Payton still see nothing wrong with a provision in the coach's extension that would allow Payton to opt out of his contract if Loomis — who hired Payton in 2006 — were to leave the club. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL and Saints have declined public comment on the matter, say the Saints and Payton believe the provision is similar to one that allowed Bill Parcells to leave his post as executive vice president with Miami if ownership changed.

Goodell has not publicly specified his problem with Payton's extension, which pays more than $6 million a year. The NFL has said the commissioner has not made a final determination about Payton's contract status for next season. Goodell has said, however, that he has discussed his concerns with the Saints and asked the club to rework part of the deal.

Although Payton is suspended, he and the Saints currently may address Goodell's concerns with the extension, providing some hope of resolving the matter before the coach effectively becomes a free agent.

Another major area of uncertainty involves ongoing challenges to players' bounty suspensions.

Although Goodell has recused himself as arbitrator for four current or former Saints players' appeals of their bounty suspensions, the players — Smith, Vilma, Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita and free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove — objected to Goodell's decision to appoint former commissioner Paul Tagliabue to handle the matter. The players say Tagliabue has a conflict because he works for the law firm that has represented the NFL in bounty-related matters. Tagliabue has given no indication he intends to step down, leaving the matter for a federal judge in New Orleans to decide.

In the meantime, Smith and Vilma keep playing, and Saints coaches make weekly game plans on the assumption they'll have the two defenders in the lineup.

"You have to have a little bit of foresight should something happen. We've kind of just been under that thing all year long," defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. "Once we know the week is set the way the week is, we just move on and worry about the opponent we're playing."

The Saints won't want to lose Smith and Vilma, given their leadership roles on a unit that needs help. The Saints are last in the NFL in yards allowed (471.3 per game) but did come through with clutch plays against the Eagles, including Patrick Robinson's interception return for a touchdown, a fumble recovery and seven sacks. Smith had two sacks and Vilma had two tackles for losses.

If the suspensions are upheld, Smith will have to serve four games and Vilma the rest of the season.

Saints linebacker Scott Shanle said he hopes that won't happen, but added that the Saints know worrying about it won't do any good.

"We're at the point now where it seems like every week there's something new to distract us, so people are like, 'The hell with it. We'll wait to figure it out when the time comes,'" Shanle said. "We're trying to fight our way back into something and with all the distractions we've had week in and week out, I think guys just kind of put blinders on."

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The Civil Wars cancel tour using divorce language

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grammy-winning duo The Civil Wars have canceled their upcoming tour dates, citing irreconcilable differences.

The folk-pop duo Joy Williams and John Paul White released a statement Tuesday announcing that because of “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition” they were unable to “continue as a touring entity at this time.”

Although they used the language of divorce, the duo added, “Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.”

Williams and White are both married, but to other people. Williams had a baby this summer with husband Nate Yetton, the duo’s manager.

Earlier this year the pair canceled part of their European tour.

The duo found unexpected success with their 2011 debut album, “Barton Hollow.” With backgrounds in gospel and rock, they met when they were both asked to contribute to a country project and found chemistry.

Back then, the pair framed their partnership in terms of courting. White told The Associated Press that after two songwriting sessions, “I finally got up the nerve to ask her out, as it were.”

“In a musical way,” Williams said.

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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The Civil Wars cancel tour using divorce language

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grammy-winning duo The Civil Wars have canceled their upcoming tour dates, citing irreconcilable differences.

The folk-pop duo Joy Williams and John Paul White released a statement Tuesday announcing that because of "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition" they were unable to "continue as a touring entity at this time."

Although they used the language of divorce, the duo added, "Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013."

Williams and White are both married, but to other people. Williams had a baby this summer with husband Nate Yetton, the duo's manager.

Earlier this year the pair canceled part of their European tour.

The duo found unexpected success with their 2011 debut album, "Barton Hollow." With backgrounds in gospel and rock, they met when they were both asked to contribute to a country project and found chemistry.

Back then, the pair framed their partnership in terms of courting. White told The Associated Press that after two songwriting sessions, "I finally got up the nerve to ask her out, as it were."

"In a musical way," Williams said.

Read More..

Political futures traders pick Obama

WASHINGTON -- The votes of traders in political futures have been pouring in for months, and they say President Obama lands a second term in Tuesday's election.

The chances that Obama is reelected stood at about 71% on Tuesday morning on Intrade, near a one-month high and up about 3% for the day in early trading. The chances that Republican Mitt Romney wins the presidency were about 29%, close to a low for the past month and down about 4%.

Most people buying political futures on the site also apparently believe that Republicans will retain control of the House and Democrats will hold on to their majority in the Senate.

Intrade's futures have an excellent track record. They accurately predicted the result in every state in the 2004 presidential election, and all but two in the 2008 contest, according to CNNMoney.

This year, Intrade gives Obama a 73% chance of winning the crucial battleground state of Ohio, with Romney at about 27% as of Tuesday morning. And the site predicts that Obama will win 294 electoral votes to Romney's 235.

The market will remain open all day, "until a winner is clearly known," an Intrade spokesman said.

Intrade bettors correctly predicted in January that Romney would win the Republican nomination, but at no point in the 2012 presidential campaign did the political futures traders have Romney beating Obama.

That's somewhat surprising given that Obama's odds of winning plunged in the summer of 2011 to about even money after the contentious battle over raising the nation's debt ceiling and the Standard & Poor's credit downgrade that followed.

But Romney has closed a huge late-September gap on Intrade's presidential election market, when Obama's reelection odds neared 80%.

ALSO:

Romney top bet to win Iowa on political futures trading site

Obama's reelection odds sink on political futures trading site

Wall Street may rally regardless of presidential election winner

Follow Jim Puzzanghera on Twitter and Google+.

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