Political Experts and Voters Respond to Election Results

WINCHESTER, VA-At a time when political views seem to be split down the middle, some voters say they woke up unhappy with the election results.

"I was not happy at all," says Sue Barnett, a Winchester voter. "I woke up this morning with a very heavy feeling in my stomach. So did my husband. It was not what we had hoped for."

While others were so excited they barely went to sleep. "I was very pleased," says Ursula Bean, a Winchester voter. "I stayed up all night long. I had about three hours of sleep."

President Obama is the projected winner of the 2012 Presidential Election. In a close fight for battleground states, Virginia ultimately voted for the President, who won just over 50 percent of the vote.

"The race was so close," says Dr. Bill Shendow, the chair of the Political Science Department at Shenandoah University. "I wasn't really surprised with the results. I wouldn't have been surprised with the results if the votes had been opposite. That's how close they were."

However, Shendow says he was surprised that Democrat Tim Kaine won the U.S. Senate seat over Republican George Allen.

"The biggest thing was the fact of the ground game," Shendow says. "Not only for President Obama, but also it had a ripple effect for the Tim Kaine candidacy."

Shendow says the canvassing made a difference across the country and in growing Virginia cities like Winchester, where Barack Obama won by a narrow margin.

"Other than the 2008 election, Winchester had not voted for a democratic presidential candidate since 1964, President Johnson," Shendow says. "But, they did it in 2008. I didn't think they would be able to repeat it in 2012. They did narrowly."

While Mitt Romney won surrounding counties, many say it was Winchester's Obama campaign office that helped bring an edge for the President in the city. Meanwhile, Northern Virginia counties helped win the state for Obama.

"The population centrist, particularly in Northern Virginia is the formidable force and was the major determinant in the final outcome," says Shendow.

The House of Representatives won three Democratic and eight Republican congressmen. Most political experts agree it will take working together to make progress.