At 12:51 a.m. Wednesday, former Gov. Mitt Romney conceded to President Barack Obama via phone call, according to the Associated Press.

The much anticipated conclusion of what has been widely called the longest presidential election in history arrived today as the conclusive Electoral College tally added up in favor of incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama for a second term as the President of the United States.

The president’s ‘four more years’ comes on the heels of a hotly contested campaign season, which, by the end of, both candidates were locked in a virtual dead heat. A seemingly equal number of polls and projections favored both the president and his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, as the winner up to the day before the election.

Obama’s electoral takeaway added up to 303 – 206 as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday according to cbsnews.com. Crucial swing states for Obama included Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia, Nevada, Colorado and Iowa as of 1 a.m. Wednesday, which along with North Carolina that went to Gov. Romney, decided the outcome of the election, and were too close to call throughout the fall campaign season. As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Florida is still undecided according to cbsnews.com.

A second term for the Obama administration will most likely — and for the most part — be an advancing of his first term agenda including the expanded, full implementation of the National Healthcare Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), a tax escalation of around 40 percent for the wealthiest one percent of tax payers, the proposed economic stimulation bill known as the American Jobs Act, a winding end to the War in Afghanistan, and implementation of a balanced budget plan slated to cut $4 trillion from the federal deficit over the next 10 years, according to the Obama administration. It is likely Obama will have the opportunity to appoint two new Supreme Court justices before the end of his second term.

Any presidential agenda is, as always, largely subject to his ability to work with Congress and acquire the votes needed to pass new legislation through both the House of Representatives and the Senate. With a currently Republican-dominated House and barely-Democratic lead in the Senate, how much of the president’s agenda that will come to realization remains to be seen.

With Congressional elections two years away and a much-diminished overwhelming election mandate compared to his 2008 win, projecting a clear view of four more years of Obama will be difficult to do, but for the moment one thing is certain – it will be President Barack Obama at the helm of it all.

In local elections, Rob Kauffman (R-89th) kept his seat in the Pennsylvania State House, beating Shippensburg resident, Susan Spicka.

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