ELECTION 2012: Obama wins second term

President Obama won re-election to the White House on Tuesday night, holding together enough of his hope-and-change coalition to repeat his historic 2008 election and surviving a sluggish economy and a fractured electorate that desired a change but failed to find Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney a credible alternative.

ELECTION 2012: Morning-after reality: No easy answers to gridlock

From illegal immigrants to defense contractors and millionaires to Medicaid patients, Americans had plenty riding on Tuesday's outcome — but few were expecting the election to provide answers to the gridlock that has prevented Washington from tackling the big issues

ELECTION 2012: Maryland, Maine back gay marriage in breakthrough votes

Gay marriage advocates cheered victories in voter initiatives in Maryland and Maine Tuesday night, and seemed poised to win in two other states. The votes were first setbacks at the ballot box for opponents of same-sex marriage after more than 30 victories.

ELECTION 2012: The race was on for independent women voters

First came the mail. Next came the neighborhood canvassers. Then there were the phone calls. So many calls. Three of them on the night before Election Day, all in the same hour, each from President Obama's campaign, asking to speak with Kristina Cartwright — and not her husband, Jamie.

ELECTION 2012: Democrats keep grasp on control of Senate

Republicans fell short Tuesday night of their goal of winning control of the Senate, after a campaign beset with weak candidate recruitment and self-inflicted gaffes in some of the GOP's most promising races.

ELECTION 2012: Kaine edges Allen to win pricey Va. Senate seat

Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine won one of the most expensive and consequential U.S. Senate races in the country Tuesday, delivering Republican George Allen a second consecutive razor-thin loss and ensuring that the purple state again will have two Democrat-blue senators come January.

ELECTION 2012: More than ever before, the economy drives the race

It's been through a rough four years, and it no longer rules the global marketplace as it once did, but the U.S. economy proved once again that it knows how to dominate a presidential campaign.

HURT: Voting in Washington, D.C., is an experience like nowhere else

Living here in the capital of the world's most powerful and sophisticated democratic republic isn't so easy, especially on Election Day. As the beacon of freedom and self-governance, we voters in the District of Columbia take seriously our duty once again to humbly demonstrate to the world how democracy works.

ELECTION 2012: Third-party candidacies: Rarely successful, often influential

Despite the vast ideological landscapes and political freedoms that set the United States apart from much of world, the 2012 presidential election has been, like so many American elections of the past 150 years, ultimately a two-party contest.

ELECTION 2012: Obama stays with traditonal game of Election-Day basketball

Saying he was sticking with a tried-and-true election-day routine, President Obama played a game of basketball Tuesday with a small cadre of friends and confidantes before awaiting election results in his hometown of Chicago.

Shadow groups with unknown funders enter election fray

Election Day is upon the nation, and groups that did not even exist just weeks ago are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to sway voters, while the big-money advertisers are switching to boots-on-the-ground tactics.

Inside the Beltway: Anticipation

"Regardless of the final results of the election, Wednesday, Nov. 7 continues a gigantic battle between small-government, constitutional conservatives and the big-government Republicans for the heart and soul of the GOP," longtime conservative maven Richard Viguerie tells Inside the Beltway.

Good news for East Coast: Nor'easter to weaken

Northeast coastal residents got some good news Tuesday: Weather experts say a new storm that threatens on Wednesday to complicate cleanup efforts from superstorm Sandy now looks as if it will be weaker than expected.

U.S. employers post fewest jobs in 5 months

U.S. employers posted fewer job openings in September after advertising more in August than first estimated. The report suggests hiring will likely remain modest in the coming months.

Intrigue swirls around Russia defense chief's fall

Vladimir Putin fired his powerful defense chief over a corruption scandal Tuesday, but a heady mix of sex, power struggles and military vendettas dominated talk in Russia about what was really behind the downfall of the man who has overseen the nation's most radical defense reform in decades.

Defense set to begin in Afghan massacre case

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was largely calm and compliant when he turned himself in following a predawn massacre at two Afghan villages in March, witnesses testified Tuesday.

Commentary

DECKER: 5 Questions with Michael Savage

Michael Savage is one of the most influential conservative voices in America. His groundbreaking radio show, "The Savage Nation," is the third-largest program in the country with over 10 million listeners.

PIPES: The imaginary 'moderate' Islamist

A September attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tunis left four dead, 49 injured, several buildings looted and burned out and the black Salafi flag flying above the embassy grounds.

HONDA: Strengthening American tech industry

One of the reasons that our economic recovery from the worst downturn since the Great Depression has been slower than previous recoveries is the overwhelming pressure placed on American entrepreneurs and industry by international competitors in an increasingly global economy.

ROBBINS: One nation, divisible

In the days leading up to the presidential election, expectation games were in full swing on both sides of the political spectrum.

EDITORIAL: Climate-change crybabies

Liberals are hot under the collar, but this has more to do with the election than the planet warming up. The presidential candidates didn't say a word about global warming during the debates, so advocates of that theory are looking for a bit of attention.