QUESTION: HOW DO YOU SPELL DEFEAT?

Answer: A-B-O-R-T-I-O-N

Single young women constituted the largest voting block in the country and they voted overwhelmingly for Obama. These women were concerned as much about reproductive rights as they were about the state of the economy.

Romney did not lose the election because Gov. Chris Christie embraced and praised President Obama when they toured the areas of New Jersey that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

Romney was defeated because the social conservatives who have controlled the Republican Party continue to make abortion the centerpiece of their agenda. The issue of abortions and contraceptives enabled the Obama campaign to paint the Republicans as waging ‘War on Women.’

The war on women image led 55 percent of women to vote for Obama, with 67 percent of single women voting to reelect the president. That left Romney with the votes of white males in general and old white men like me in particular.

While the Republicans increased their majority in the House, the Democrats were able to gain seats in the Senate because Republican candidates were swept out the way by rape and abortion.

When the majority of Americans appear to be pro-choice, it is foolhardy to make abortion an issue. The Republicans cannot hope to elect a president as long as the social conservatives continue to make abortion their major issue.

And the picture becomes even bleaker when changing demographics are considered. Yes folks, like it or not, the Hispanic population is growing by leaps and bounds, and because the Republican Party is seen as being anti-immigrant, they will vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.

All you have to do is look at Dallas, Texas. For years, Dallas was a bedrock of conservatism, with Republicans holding most local offices, as well as the district’s legislative offices, both state and national. But the influx of Hispanics changed all that. Today most of the Dallas area’s city, county and legislative offices are held by Democrats. And you can expect similar changes to occur in many other parts of the country as the Hispanic population spreads outward from the Southwest..

The Republican Party will have to change its positions on reproductive rights and immigration, issues important to young voters and Hispanics respectively. If those positions remain the same, the nation's changing demographics will leave Republicans as a minority party for the foreseeable future.

Although I am deeply disappointed in the outcome of the presidential race, I am ecstatic that the way-too-long campaign is finally over. And I fervently hope that those Obama-haters, who originated the daily emails of malicious lies concerning the president, will now crawl back in their holes.