President Obama's Victory Speech 2012

Re-elected President Obama thanks supporters and speaks of moving the country forward.

President Barack Obama rolled to re-election and a second term in the White House on Tuesday, television networks projected, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and overcoming deep doubts about his handling of the U.S. economy.

Obama defeated Romney in a series of key swing states despite a weak economic recovery and persistently high unemployment as U.S. voters decided to stick with the first black president rather than go with the wealthy Republican.

Obama’s victory in the hotly contested swing state of Ohio – as projected by TV networks – put him over the top in the fight for the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House and ended Romney’s hopes of pulling off a string of swing-state upsets.

Obama scored narrow wins in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire – all states that Romney had contested – while the only swing state captured by Romney was North Carolina, according to network projections.

There was no immediate word from the Romney camp on the reported results, with some Republicans questioning whether Obama had in fact won Ohio despite the decisions by election experts at all the major TV networks to declare it for the president.

CBS projected Obama as the winner in another swing state, Colorado, maki.