Washington (CNN) -- If you want to understand the historical magnitude of President Obama's re-election victory, start with this fact: He lost the white vote by 20 points. In 1988, Mike Dukakis lost white voters by 19 points. He was crushed in a 40-state landslide. Obama's victory is a testament to a changing America. The president won a second term in the face of a weak economy by reassembling the bulk of his 2008 coalition: Hispanics, African-Americans, younger voters and single women. Mitt Romney's support was older, whiter, and more Protestant than the president's -- a faded shadow of a time gone by.
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Obama's victory is a testament to a changing America
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Romney's coalition bore a striking resemblance to John McCain's four years ago
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Romney won a small majority of independents, but not enough to make a difference
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Results show Republican party facing a demographics problem
How Republicans address this problem will play a huge role in determining the shape of @placeholder politics long after Obama himself has exited the political stage.