Freaking Out: The Best of the Worst Responses to Obama's Win

By Gregory J. Krieg November 8, 2012

Image credit: Chris Carlson/AP Photo

Mitt Romney gave a brief and graceful concession speech Tuesday night after it became apparent that President Obama had won a second term in office. Romney's campaign went a step further, livestreaming the president's remarks from Chicago a little while later. But not all of Obama's opponents have been so willing to let the results pass quietly.

Rush Limbaugh and "the Elves"

Surprising precisely no one, the syndicated radio host didn't take Tuesday night's decision well, saying Wednesday: "I went to bed last night thinking we're outnumbered. I went to bed last night thinking all this discussion we'd had about this election being the election that will tell us whether or not we've lost the country. I went to bed last night thinking we've lost the country. I don't know how else you look at this."

Get more pure politics at ABCNews.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com

Limbaugh then moved on to an "Obama-as-Santa Claus" metaphor:

"[Obama supporters] think that the only way they're going to have a chance for anything is if somebody comes along and takes from somebody else and gives it to them. Santa Claus! And it's hard to beat Santa Claus. Especially it's hard to beat Santa Claus when the alternative is you be your own Santa Claus. 'Oh, no, I'm not doing that. What do you mean, I have to be my own Santa Claus? No, no. No, no, no. I want to get up every day and go to the tree. You're the elves,' meaning us."

University of Mississippi Students "Riot"

"Hundreds of Ole Miss students exchanged racial epithets and violent, politicized chants in response to the announcement of the re-election of President Barack Obama," student reporters from The Daily Mississipian wrote early Wednesday morning.

After getting the call, the University Police Department "forcibly dispersed the crowd," threatening students with a trip to jail if they didn't go home. Two people were arrested.

Chancellor Dan Jones said the incident wasn't quite up to "riot" standards - "no injuries and there was no property damage" - but acknowledged in a statement that "reports of uncivil language and shouted racial epithets appear to be accurate." Jones said those actions "are universally condemned by the university, student leaders and the vast majority of students who are more representative of our university creed."

Victoria Jackson

The former Saturday Night Live comedienne, now an active tea party member, was upset with the results. Here are a few of her thoughts, via Twitter:

But not all is lost:

And then the requisite conspiracy theory:

Akin Speech

The Republican Senate candidate from Missouri, who during the campaign suggested that pregnancy was unlikely in cases of what he called "legitimate rape," took a page out of the Romney campaign's playbook. In his concession speech Akin told supporters:

"There's one class in this country: Americans. We also believe that the source of America's great strength is our faith in a loving God, who allows courageous people the freedom to pursue the unique dreams that each of them have. And we believe that the Constitution is not a list of suggestions. We believe that ordinary people built America. We believe you built that."

Karl Rove

George W. Bush's former political guru wasn't convinced that Ohio had gone for Obama, so on Tuesday night, he explained his reasoning. But Fox News anchor Megan Kelly was dubious about the math, asking if it was something he "does as a Republican to make himself feel better, or is this real?"

Kelly's zinger hardly settled the matter. The Fox News host then got involved in moderating the awkward and contentious debate between Rove and the Fox News "decision desk." Rove believed they had called Ohio for Obama too soon. Ultimately, though, and after some on-air consultation with the behind-the-scenes crew, Kelly wasn't buying it.

"They are not listening to Karl," she said. "They don't care what Karl said."

Ted Nugent

The man who gave us "Cat Scratch Fever" can't stop clawing at the president. In April, Nugent was summoned to a meeting with the Secret Service after making some ugly comments at a National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, Mo.

"If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again," he said, "I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year."

After meeting with Nugent a few days later, the Secret Service declared the situation "resolved."

Not resolved: Nugent's issues with President Obama and the people who elected him to a second term. His made his thoughts plain on Twitter.

Six minutes later, at 6:40 a.m., Nugent went from mad to sad:

Everyone's a Critic

Kelly Romney, a distant relative of the defeated candidate, told ABC/Univision's Manuel Rueda that he "tried to warn Mitt about his 'mistake'" in not doing more to sway Latino voters "on three occasions" before the election.

"It's just a real tragedy I think that he did not connect with us where we could've helped him," Kelly Romney said. "I really think it would've made a difference in the election."

Click HERE to watch President Obama's full acceptance speech.

Dick Morris

Refuting Oasis's Noel Gallagher - who wrote and brother Liam sang that "nobody ever mentions the weather can make or break your day" - the former Clinton aide turned conservative talker charged Superstorm Sandy with raining on and ultimately "breaking" Mitt Romney's Election Day.

Below is a choice excerpt from Morris's Wednesday blog post, titled "Why I Was Wrong."

"I've got egg on my face," he began, humbly enough. "I predicted a Romney landslide and, instead, we ended up with an Obama squeaker."

We can debate whether or not an incumbent president makes a squeaking sound while surpassing 300 electoral votes on his "re-election night" some other time, but in the meantime, Morris gets down to the real reason for Obama's win:

"The more proximate cause of my error was that I did not take full account of the impact of hurricane Sandy and of Governor Chris Christie's bipartisan march through New Jersey arm in arm with President Obama. Not to mention Christie's fawning promotion of Obama's presidential leadership. It made all the difference.

Trump

The birther's meltdown is well-documented at this point. And that's a good thing, because he deleted some of his more provocative and inaccurate ("more votes equals a loss… revolution in this country") tweets over the past 24 hours. Of what remains, there is this call for what we might understand to be a friendly group visit to our nation's capital.

Let's end this on a positive note: