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VIDEO: Romney Says He Lost Because Minorities Love Obamacare

PHOTO: REUTERS

Blame, blame, blame. Fox News Sunday broadcast former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's first interview since losing the 2012 election. Romney blamed his loss on his poor performance among "minorities" and the "lower incomes" whom he claimed were seduced by the Affordable Care Act.

ROMNEY: We did very well with the majority population, but not with minority populations, and that was a failing, that was a real mistake.

CHRIS WALLACE: Why do you think that was?

ROMNEY: Well, I think the Obamacare attractiveness and feature was something we underestimated, particularly among lower incomes. And, uh, just didn’t do as good a job in connecting with that audience as we should have.

Oh and this ... again:

Ann Romney said she blamed the media for unfairly treating her husband. The portrayals of them as rich and out-of-touch kept the public from getting "to know Mitt for who he was." While she shed tears after the loss, she said, "I'm mostly over it. But not completely."

But we're completely over you, hon. Via Think Progress, watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

EBONY: "2012's Biggest News Stories" Report + Photos

It's the last day of the year and my latest for EBONY wraps the year that was: "2012's Biggest News Stories." Obama, gun violence, LGBT rights, reproductive justice, HIV/AIDS ... It's not a comprehensive list—just a Top Ten—but the list should have something for everyone. Check out the amazing photo gallery created by the producers.

Read the report and photo gallery HERE.

Mitt Romney "Bored" and Ann Romney "Crying" After Election Loss

Mitt and Ann Romney are having difficulty adjusting to life after being overwhelmingly rejected by the voters. The Republican presidential nominee is "detached" and "in seclusion" at his mansion outside San Diego, according to friends interviewed by the Washington Post.

Gone are the minute-by-minute schedules and the swarm of Secret Service agents. There’s no aide to make his peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches. Romney hangs around the house, sometimes alone, pecking away at his iPad and e-mailing his CEO buddies who have been swooping in and out of La Jolla to visit. ...

By all accounts, the past month has been most difficult on Romney’s wife, Ann, who friends said believed up until the end that ascending to the White House was their destiny. They said she has been crying in private and trying to get back to riding her horses....

Oh and this:

In private, Romney has told friends he has little interest in helping the Republican Party rebuild and re-brand itself. Advisers also said he felt no need to explain himself after his comments to donors about Obama using the power of incumbency to give “gifts” to female, black and Latino voters leaked into the public sphere.

There is some hope. Mitt and Ann are reportedly looking forward to exstensive renovations that  will transform their "beach house into an 11,000-square-foot manse complete with a car elevator."

EBONY: "Obama Wins, Make It Count"

Our latest for EBONY: A few personal reflections on the election at "Obama Wins, Make It Count."

If schadenfreude could be compared to a gourmet meal, last night’s meltdown Mitt Romney’s political ambitions certainly qualifies as a four-star feast at Le Cirque: Romney’s entitled arrogance. The Republican Party’s callous disregard for women, minorities and working people.  And the pièce de résistance:  President Obama’s electoral win was a landslide rebuke the Romney and the GOP.

So many delicious moments to choose from—Romney’s initial reluctance to concede to Donald Trump’s epic Twitter rant. But one of the most memorable events from the 2012 election was not broadcast to millions. It was a brief, personal exchange with a neighbor in my polling station in Chicago’s Logan Square that crystallized the promise of Barack Obama’s America.

Read the op-ed HERE.

VIDEO: Obama Tears Up While Thanking Campaign Staffers

A study in contrasts. President Barack Obama visited his Chicago campaign headquarters to thank his staff and volunteers for their hard work. The President fought back tears as he reflected upon the campaign and its dedicated supporters.

"I am absolutely confident that all of you are going to do amazing things in your lives," said the President. "Because what you guys have done means that the work that I am doing is important. I'm really proud of that. .. That's the source of my inspiration."

POTUS first becomes emotional at 1:25 and is fighting back tears after 3:00. Watch the clip AFTER THE JUMP ...

REPORT: Romney Cancels Campaign Credit Cards After Conceding

Thanks for nothing. Now walk a thousand miles home!

From the moment Mitt Romney stepped off stage Tuesday night, having just delivered a brief concession speech he wrote only that evening, the massive infrastructure surrounding his campaign quickly began to disassemble itself. Aides taking cabs home late that night got rude awakenings when they found the credit cards linked to the campaign no longer worked. [...]

Were they looking for a "handout"? The visual of hundreds of waitresses, cab drivers and unionized airline ticket counter employees telling Romney staffers "Your card has been declined!" is positively delicious.

PUERTO RICO: Voters Support Statehood, Oust Anti-Gay Fortuño

Two important election updates from Puerto Rico. A "slim majority of Puerto Ricans have voted to approve a nonbinding referendum" that would make the commonwealth the 51st U.S. state. And here is some music to your ears: Voters also ousted the anti-gay and pro-statehood Gov. Luis Fortuño.

The referendum "results aren't so clear cut" because "nearly a half million voters chose to leave a portion of the ballot blank," reports the Associated Press.

[The] two-part ballot first asked all voters if they favor the current status as a U.S. territory. Regardless of the answer, all voters then had the opportunity to choose in the second question from three options: statehood, independence or "sovereign free association," which would grant more autonomy to the island of nearly 4 million people. More than 900,000 voters, or 54 percent, responded "no" to the first question, saying they were not content with the current status.

On the second question, only about 1.3 million voters made a choice. Of those, nearly 800,000, or 61 percent of those expressing an opinion, chose statehood — the first majority after three previous referendums on the issue over the past 45 years. Some 437,000 backed sovereign free association and 72,560 chose independence. Nearly 500,000, however, left that question blank.

Also:

Gov. Luis Fortuno, a member of the pro-statehood party who is also a Republican, [was] turned him out of office after one term, and gave the governship to Alejandro Garcia Padilla of the Popular Democratic Party, which wants Puerto Rico to remain a semi-autonomous U.S. commonwealth.

Puerto Rico has witnessed an escalating trend of anti-LGBT violence and homicides. Fortuño has resisted efforts to prosecute the cases as hate crimes, has refused to publicly speak on the violence but did call for a constitutional ban against same-sex marriage.

The rash of reported anti-LGBT crimes in Puerto Rico started in November 2008 when 19-year gay Jorge Steven López Mercado was brutally killed and dismembered near Cayey. In December 2008, another gay man was killed and the body of Ashley Santiago Ocasio, a transgender woman, was discovered in a bloody crime scene near San Juan in April 2009. There have been "dozens" of anti-LGBT murders since then.

Fortuño resisted efforts to classify the horrific murder and dismemberment of López  as a hate crime. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice ultimately and reluctantly did so under the threat of federal intervention. Juan A. Martínez Matos confessed to killing López. In May 2010, the confessed killer plead guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

In June 2010, the Commonwealth's attorney general announced the creation of a special commission to investigate hate crimes. To date, Fortuño has yet to publicly comment on any of the cases.

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PUERTO RICO: 3 LGBTs Killed in 3 Days
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Tammy Baldwin Makes History as First Openly Gay Senator

Wisconsin's Rep. Tammy Baldwin has been projected as defeating former Gov. Tommy Thompson in the race for senate. Baldwin has made history by becoming the nation's first openly LGBT senator.

VIDEO: FOX Warns "Black Panthers" are "Intimidating White Voters"

Now they're worried about voter intimidation?

FOX News starts Election Day with an ominous breaking news banner warning that "New Black Panthers" are "intimidating white" voters in Philadelphia. "This is a member of the Black Panthers standing guard outside a polling place in Philadelphia," co-host Gretchen Carlson noted. "The organization said it was thinking about monitoring the elections. Critics say it’s more like intimidation."

The network "reports":

A member of the New Black Panther Party who was charged with voter intimidation in the 2008 election for standing outside a Philadelphia polling site was back Tuesday morning – in an official capacity.

Jerry Jackson, who was charged in the 2008 case along with Minister King Samir Shabazz, but later saw charges dropped by the Department of Justice, was seen early Tuesday outside a North Philadelphia voting site wearing the group’s trademark black beret, combat-style uniform and heavy boots. Fox News confirmed he is a designated poll watcher.

There were also reports of New Black Panther Party members at polling sites in Cleveland, Ohio, where they have also maintained a presence at early voting sites. Critics complain that they are an intimidating presence and could discourage white voters, who may be more likely to vote Republican, from entering polling sites.

"Fox News mentioned the New Black Panther Party over 95 times in less than two weeks in 2010," adds Raw Story. "After the Department of Justice declined to pursue charges against a member of the New Black Panther Party for carrying a billy club to a polling place."

A dog whistle so loud that even Helen Keler could hear it. Why not just claim that a "race war" will happen after the election instead of simply ignoring why Black poll watchers are needed in Black neighborhoods? Watch the "report" AFTER THE JUMP ...

VIDEO: An Emotional President Obama at Final Campaign Rally

President Barack Obama made his final pitch to voters last night in Des Moines, Iowa. The President was clearly emotional and and could be seen fighting back a tear or two. Watch the video WHEN YOU JUMP ...