Emily Soule

Teen participant in Global Citizen Year

What I have learned from living abroad is that the meaning of the word "election" is not universal.

Kate Gould

Lobbyist on Middle East Policy, Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)

Disregard for human life and the rule of law is exposed in stark relief when, in the very same week, news of a failed shot at a robotic device evokes national outrage, while the robotic maiming of a child and killing of three people is met with radio silence.

Ken Blackwell and Bob Morrison

Fellow of The National Academy of Public Administration and the Family Research Council

The 2012 election resembled Harry Truman's come-from-behind "Give `em Hell" campaign of 1948. That year, too, Republicans could almost taste victory. But Truman was a scrapper. He didn't mind winning ugly.

Reese Schonfeld

Television journalist

Every fourth November is a big month for news, because the election occurs, and the results are debated for a couple of weeks, then Thanksgiving comes, and the rating numbers collapse.

Jacopo della Quercia

Educator and History Writer

When Missouri's electors convene on Dec. 17 to cast their electoral votes, it will mark the second presidential election in a row their state voted for the losing candidate. What are the state's proudest, most nostalgic citizens to do?

NYCity News Service

From the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

In the days before the election, we asked voters to tell us whether they switched parties - and why or why not. Many respondents expressed frustration - variously with President Obama, Mitt Romney and the two-party system, among other things.

Jessica McCreight and Josh Molofsky

Much has been written about the nation's changing demographics and Obama's record-breaking ground game. But there's at least one more lesson for aspiring political pundits and scientists alike -- to win, you have to say something substantial.

Margie Omero

Democratic pollster & strategist

Candidates feeling cowed by NRA influence should fear no more. NRA spending this cycle was ineffective -- or at least insufficient.

Frank Sharry

Founder and executive director, America's Voice

Lawrence Downes is right: If the Republicans are going to offer real immigration reform, they will have to do better than this.

Caroline Chen

Freelance reporter and investigative journalism student, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

That the majority of Hispanics voted for President Obama this November surprised no one. But what may have been less expected is that 73 percent of Asian American voters cast their ballots for Obama.

Jill Hanauer

President, Project New America

As more Americans use the Internet and mobile devices as part of their daily lives, harnessing these technologies is increasingly among the best ways to get an accurate read on voters' complex attitudes and opinions.

Amitai Etzioni

Professor of international relations, George Washington University

Without a new coalition, liberals are going to be much disappointed. It is much too early to do victory laps, given the president's natural tendencies to compromise in his dealings with an adamant conservative majority.

Gabriel Sanchez Zinny

Managing Director at Blue Star Strategies in Washington, DC

Is "big" vs. "small" government even a valid question anymore? A robust defense of entrepreneurship and the private sector is still politically popular, but Latinos -- like many younger Americans - don't see this as mutually exclusive with more government.

Ho-Hyung Lee and James Bryson Hyatt

Founder and CEO, UBIMS, Inc.

The solution starts with acknowledging domestic manufacturing needs to be the backbone of any sustainable recovery. Experts will say the U.S. doesn't "do" manufacturing anymore. Our economy is all about service, finance, software, and entertainment.

James Campion

Political Analyst, 'The Aquarian Weekly'

Those are the sounds a man makes when he no longer has to run for office. It is powerful, even majestic, if not terrifying. Makes the most fearless among us truly understand the lofty position of the end game. It rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

Barbara Lee

President, Barbara Lee Political Office and Barbara Lee Family Foundation

The 1950s called: They want their stereotypes back. In what feels like a throwback to a bygone era, paternalist politics were alive and well in this election.