Elections have consequences. For the upstream oil and gas (O&G) industry, the consequences of the November 2012 U.S. election are not good. There is no way to sugarcoat the fact that the major consequence for the industry is that it backed the wrong horse. President Obama won a second term, the Democrats unexpectedly increased their control of the Senate, and, while the Republicans maintained control of the House of Representatives, the Democrats gained eight seats. Nationwide, the results unpleasandy surprised Republicans (and surprised just about everyone else, as well):—almost uniformly grim, and for Republicans are potentially ominous for the future. For example: 1. President Obama was re-elected with a large Electoral College majority, in a year when he was supposed to be vulnerable on the economy and jobs. 2. The Senate elections were an unexpected disaster for Republicans, who lost races that they could have won in half-a-dozen states. 3. Republicans retained control of the House. However, 49% of votes cast were for Democrats, and 48% were for Republicans. 4. This is the fifth out of the past six presidential elections where the Democratic nominee received more votes than the Republican nominee. 5. Republicans are in danger of becoming a party of whites concentrated in the South, whereas the U.S. is rapidly becoming increasingly more di- verse, with minorities voting mostly for Democrats.
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