Maddow: Reelection ensures Obama’s will be a consequential presidency

>> one bit of news i need to communicate, with this win, with barack obama and importantly joe biden being re-elected for a second term, this means that we can also now project that the democrats have retained control of the senate because the vice president functions as the tie-breaking vote in the senate, even with the outstanding races still not yet called in the senate, this means with joe biden as vice president, the senate retains -- the senate is retained in democratic control. again, from earlier tonight, the house will be retained in republican control. that tells you something. we'll wait to see what the margins are going to be in the senate. that tells you something about the governing environment for a second term of barack obama . i would also just like a point of privilege to say this is an important point for policy. this was a in terms of policy, in terms of civil rights policies, don't ask, don't tell, marriage equality , in terms of economic policy like the stimulus, in terms of the historic, historic change like health reform and like some of the other wall street reform, student loan reform measures that this president passed. had this president been a one-term president, those policies would have been dialed back along with the rest of his legacy. those policies will now be held on to in this country as we experience almost what is an inevitable economic rebound. that would have happened with anybody as president. we are coming out of a horrible depression ands as the economy gets better, those policies will be in place and they will become part of the new normal in america. they would have been clawed back had the presidency gone to the republicans. obama care is here to stay and it means that we got health reform for the first time in 100 years trying to get it.

>> can i add to that, completely agreeing with the president has an expression, i got it.

>> i got that.

>> with admiration to them, they voted for those things. they voted for a president who would intervene and save the auto industry . they voted for a president who would be big enough to bring his opponent, hillary clinton and make her secretary of state. they voted for somebody who would get rid of don't ask, don't tell, who would have lilly ledbetter as one of his objectives and agenda items and all of the groups that will now support him. the other guy -- and i'm not going to knock him. it looks like he he lost now and he did lose -- it's hard to absorb all of this information after all of the months that we were covering it. but romney was wrong to deport it. it's a decision he made that he was going to get to the far right and it was one that he could not pivot back on. the hispanic community -- we'll find out the numbers tomorrow but it looks to me like they saw this as a real turn in the road