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The virtue of empathy for the suffering of others is regarded as a fundamental part of human love, and a cornerstone of social interconnection and humanism. It is foundational to the highest principles in society and over the past four years it seemed that for a large segment of America, compassion was dead. Republicans thrive on the lack of compassion among bigots, religious extremists, and the self-indulgent, and they diligently cultivated cruelty and hatred from the earliest days of President Obama’s first term in office. However, Republicans underestimated the compassion inherent in most Americans and it cost them in the election that saw the epitome of callousness, Willard Romney and Paul Ryan, fail as more Americans chose to support President Obama’s concern for all Americans than the greed and contempt promoted by Republicans.

Pundits and political scientists will evaluate the 2012 general election for years to come, and unless they acknowledge that President Obama won a commanding victory over Romney based on his high regard for the American people, they will have missed the most important aspect of the President’s victory. Despite what conservatives propagandize and fear monger about this President, it turns out that more Americans trust him to look out for their interests and it is a testament to the character of the American people, because in choosing a leader who champions all Americans, they demonstrated that they, like the President, truly care about America and its people.

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Republicans have made it quite clear that they have contempt for all Americans who are not wealthy, and especially the most vulnerable among us. It was nothing short of revolting over the past two years to watch Republicans preach the value of cutting social safety nets that protect children, the poor, and the elderly under the guise of deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility, and to promote the agenda of hate, they offered the people a 20% tax cut as an incentive to push the radical agenda of austerity. However, Americans are not bought off as easy as Republicans attempted to buy the election because the majority of the population believes, as President Obama does, that Americans have a responsibility to take care of each other that the GOP still cannot comprehend.

What Republicans also should have discovered is that Americans struggling in a recovering economy saw through the GOP’s plutocracy and fully understand that the President will continue fighting against the treacherous income inequality, lower wages, and social safety net assault the Republican Party has made a mainstay of their agenda. Except for religious extremists, racists, and the wealthy, the majority of Americans did not fall for the Republican lies that to save the economy; the elderly, future retirees, the infirm, children, and the poor had to be cut loose to fend for themselves, and in re-electing President Obama, showed they do not want Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid privatized or eliminated under the guise of deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility. In fact, the avatar of fiscal responsibility is the Social Security Trust that is awash in surplus and has never added one pence to the deficit. The Democrats and President Obama owe it to the American people to seize the initiative and begin debunking the canard that Social Security is an entitlement, and begin calling it what it is; a retirement account fully funded and administered by employee contributions.

In rejecting the Draconian agenda Romney and Ryan proposed, the majority of Americans expressed the compassion President Obama demonstrates in working for all Americans; even the racists and teabaggers who support Republicans. In choosing a leader who protects their interests, the President’s supporters showed that not only do they want the President to protect their own interests, they in effect were voting to support all Americans’ interest and it is the overwhelming difference between liberals and conservatives, compassion and callousness. It is surprising more Americans cannot see that Republicans were willing to spend nearly a billion dollars to wrest the government from moderate Democrats for the privilege of stealing trillions in Americans retirement accounts to hand over to the wealthiest one percent, and it is the difference between sheer racist hate, and compassion for their fellow citizens; even ignorant bigots who supported the Romney-Ryan ticket.

The character of the majority of Americans shone on election day, and they chose as their champion the man they trust will continue protecting their interests in spite of fierce opposition from Republicans that is not about to abate anytime soon. In choosing President Obama, Americans saw through, and rejected, a twenty-percent tax cut and sent a strong message to Republicans that the American people have always believed that part of being an American is taking care of the least fortunate and vulnerable among us, and for the second time in four years proved the majority of Americans are exceptional and not racists, religious extremists, or wealth-oriented monsters portrayed by Romney, Ryan, Rove, and the Koch Brothers who spent a billion dollars to transform America into the land of the callous.