Barack Obama re-elected as President of the United States

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from a decisive re-election win, President Barack Obama returns from the campaign trail on Wednesday with little time to savor victory, facing urgent economic and fiscal challenges and a still-divided Congress capable of blocking his every move.

Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Tuesday night after a grueling presidential race and used his acceptance speech in front of a huge cheering crowd in Chicago to strike a conciliatory note toward his political opponents.
But in the cold light of the election's morning-after, it was clear that even though voters have given their stamp of approval for a second Obama term, he could have a hard time translating that into a mandate to push forward with his agenda.
Americans chose to stick with a divided government in Washington by leaving the U.S. Congress as it has been since the midterm elections of 2010.
Obama's fellow Democrats retain control of the Senate and Republicans keep the majority in the House of Representatives, giving them power to curb the president's legislative ambitions.
This is the political reality that Obama - who won a far narrower victory over Romney than his historic election as the country's first black president in 2008 - faces when he returns to Washington later on Wednesday.
But that did not stop him from basking in the glow of re-election together with thousands of elated supporters in his hometown of Chicago early on Wednesday.
"You voted for action, not politics as usual," Obama said, calling for compromise and pledging to work with leaders of both parties to reduce the deficit, to reform the tax code and immigration laws, and to cut dependence on foreign oil.
Obama told the crowd he hoped to sit down with Romney in the coming weeks and examine ways to meet the challenges ahead.
But the problems that dogged Obama in his first term, which cast a long shadow over his 2008 campaign message of hope and change, still confront him. He must tackle the $1 trillion annual deficits, rein in the $16 trillion national debt, overhaul expensive social programs and deal with the split Congress.
The immediate focus for Obama and U.S. lawmakers will be to confront the "fiscal cliff," a mix of tax increases and spending cuts due to extract some $600 billion from the economy at the end of the year barring a deal with Congress.

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