By Josh Voorhees (@JoshVoorhees)
AND THE MAP IS COMPLETE: Mitt Romney's camp conceded Thursday that they had lost Florida, the sole remaining state on the electoral map that had not yet been colored in either red or blue. That leaves the (unofficial) final electoral score at: Obama 332; Romney 206. With some votes still left to be tallied (we're looking at you, Washington state), the current popular vote stands at Obama 60,841,020; Romney 57,941,135. Or in more simpler terms: Obama 50 percent; Romney 48 percent.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS, MR. SILVER: In his first post-election post: "Based on a preliminary analysis of the returns, Mitt Romney may have had to win the national popular vote by three percentage points on Tuesday to be assured of winning the Electoral College. The last Republican to accomplish that was George H.W. Bush, in 1988."
TIME TO GET TO WORK: Now that we know that the president will remain in office for the next four years, that should remove any doubt about the fate of his landmark legislative achievement: Obamacare. The only thing left now, of course, is making the law work.
The New York Times explains: "States will need to hustle to put in place the various pieces meant to help their residents meet the contentious requirement of having health insurance by Jan. 1, 2014. The federal government is under immense pressure to provide more guidance, while building its own tools to ensure the law’s success. ... Obama and his allies must now step up efforts to promote and explain it to a public that remains sharply divided and confused about it. In exit polls on Tuesday, nearly half of voters said the law should be either partially or fully repealed."
WHAT'S NEXT FOR MITT ROMNEY: The Washington Post: "Mitt Romney began his retreat from public life Wednesday at a private breakfast gathering with a couple hundred of his most loyal and affluent campaign benefactors. The former Massachusetts governor, humbled by the thumping that ended his six-year pursuit of the presidency, reminisced about the journey and tried not to cry."
WHAT'S NEXT FOR PAUL RYAN: The Wall Street Journal: "The question now is how involved the 42-year-old Wisconsin Republican wants to be [in Congress], as he emerges from Mr. Romney’s failed White House bid with a much higher profile than he had before—and amid speculation he will make a run for the presidency himself in 2016, backed by conservative GOP admirers. The next two years, though, will test Mr. Ryan’s well-crafted image as a politician more interested in substance than ambition. He will have to decide whether to wade into what could be tense negotiations between Congress and the White House over tax and entitlements, where making compromises could risk a conservative backlash."
HAPPY THURSDAY and welcome to The Slatest PM. Follow @JoshVoorhees on Twitter or email at josh.voorhees@slate.com.
BECAUSE IT'S ONLY ABOUT FOUR YEARS AWAY: Politico: "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would start out as a dominant favorite in the 2016 Iowa caucuses if she chooses to run for president, a new survey from Public Policy Polling finds. The PPP poll ... shows Clinton taking 58 percent of the Iowa vote in a hypothetical presidential run. Vice President Joe Biden trails far behind at 17 percent, followed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at 6 percent and Massachusetts Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren at 3 percent."
MORE ELECTION COVERAGE FROM SLATE:
A SYMBOLIC VISIT: The Associated Press: "Less than two weeks after his re-election, President Barack Obama will become the first U.S. president to visit the once pariah nation of Myanmar, drawing attention to the country's shift to democracy and highlighting what his administration regards as a marquee foreign policy achievement. Obama will also travel to Cambodia, a first for a U.S. president as well, and to Thailand during the Nov. 17-20 trip."
WE'VE HEARD LESS TROUBLING NEWS: CNN: "Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week, CNN has learned. The incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes. The drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait, U.S. officials said, adding it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance. Although the drone was not hit, the Pentagon is concerned."
LIFE X 7: Reuters: "Gabrielle Giffords stood in federal court to face her would-be assassin on Thursday moments before he was sentenced to life in prison for killing six people and wounding 13 others, including Giffords, last year. Jared Loughner ... received seven consecutive life terms plus 140 years in prison ... one for each of the six people who lost their lives and a seventh for the attempted assassination of Giffords."
See you back here tomorrow. But until then, tell your friends to subscribe, or simply forward the newsletter on and let them make up their own minds.
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