How the Republicans won the election

1. The Republican Party feels victorious because although they may have lost the White House, it was not  the terrible rout experienced by Walter Mondale in 1980 (Ronald Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes--out of a possible 538--and received nearly 60% of the  popular vote).

2. The Republican Party still represents the Heartland of American--having lost both coasts, the Republicans seem to have a lock on some of the middle, some of the West, and most of the South.

3. Those Republicans who crossed the aisle did so not because of the Republican Party or its policies but because they are dissatisfied with George W. Bush.

4. The recession is now Obama's Recession.

5. The Republican Party can now get in the way of every initiative and at the end of four years claim that Obama did not keep all of his campaign promises.