Howard Fineman, 11/07/12

Editorial director, Huffington Post Media Group

Sure, the numerical line-up didn't change much: a Democratic president, a narrowly Democratic Senate and a Republican-led House. But under the circumstances, the results made an extraordinary statement about commitment to change.

Michael Moore, 11/07/12

Oscar and Emmy-winning director

Congratulations everyone!! This country has truly changed, and I believe there will be no going back. Hate lost yesterday. That is amazing in and of itself. And all the women who were elected last night! A total rebuke of Neanderthal attitudes.

Grover Norquist, 11/07/12

President, Americans for Tax Reform

Last night voters confirmed the status quo of the 2010 election which brought a strong, united Republican majority in the House and enough Republican senators to filibuster any particular piece of legislation and a weakened, but re-elected president.

Bianca Bosker, 11/07/12

Executive Tech Editor, The Huffington Post

Forget must-see TV: The pundits who people paid attention to were a personal mix of Facebook friends, twitterers, bloggers and vloggers, with experts like Wolf Blitzer just one voice in the din. We were each listening to more voices, but fewer of the same voices.

Bob Burnett, 11/07/12

Berkeley writer, retired Silicon Valley executive

On November 6th Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney with 50.3 percent of the popular vote and a surprising 303 electoral votes. Here are the top ten reasons Romney tanked.

Rosario Dawson, 11/07/12

Actress; Co-founder, Voto Latino

They've come out of the shadows to fight for their families and themselves. And now, the ones who can have shown that they will vote -- and that makes me explosively optimistic about our shared future.

Lisa Belkin, 11/07/12

Senior Columnist on Life/Work/Family, The Huffington Post

Politicians talked to women, about women and at women when they wanted our vote. Now they have to talk with women if they want to keep our support.  

Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea, 11/07/12

Founder and chairman of Weidenfeld & Nicolson

The massacres in Syria are joined by a new and dangerous battlefield in the Lebanon. The reluctance of the West to act against the Assad regime and at the very least to close the airspace for Syrian fighter jets, makes the situation difficult for decent opposition powers.

Robert Reich, 11/07/12

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Beyond Outrage'

Barack Obama's victory gives him the attention of the nation and the authority that comes with having won reelection. It therefore gives him the opportunity to recast the economic debate. The upcoming fiscal cliff makes it particularly urgent he do so quickly.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, 11/07/12

Senior Religion Editor, The Huffington Post

The big loser last night was the spiritual abuse of power that seeks to diminish the rights and dignity of others. The new religious America does not seek to shame or denigrate, but rather embraces the power of religion to lift all people up and mobilize people for the common good.

Rev. Al Sharpton, 11/07/12

President, National Action Network

From every corner of this nation, a majority sent a resounding message that we will not tolerate a rollback of our liberties, nor will we sit by idly as the rights so many fought and died for were under attack.

John Ziegler, 11/06/12

Conservative filmmaker/commentator

Why did the conservative media get it so wrong? Because I am a conservative who was confident that Obama would win a tight race, I think that I may be in unique position to explain why this happened.

Michelangelo Signorile, 11/07/12

Editor-at-large, HuffPost Gay Voices

No longer will politicians -- or anyone -- be able to credibly claim to be supportive of gays, and to love and honor their supposed gay friends and family, while still being opposed to basic and fundamental rights like marriage.

Dan Treadway, 11/07/12

Associate blog editor, The Huffington Post

Tonight represents a gigantic leap forward for our nation back to traditional values. Principles that once made this nation great: Marriage is between one man and one woman; poor people should die of curable diseases; prohibition.

William Bradley, 11/07/12

Political Analyst, NewWestNotes.com

Lo and behold, the faith-based Mitt Romney surge in swing states oft prophesied in the Fox News Channel echo chamber simply wasn't materializing. But reality still eluded one of the biggest names on Fox. You may have heard about Karl Rove's antics last night.

Jeffrey Feldman, 11/07/12

Author, 'Framing The Debate' and 'Outright Barbarous'

Allegiance to the GOP has become less about ideas than a way of responding negatively to anything that smacks of vision or achievement by government.

Stephen Schlesinger, 11/07/12

Author and Fellow at the Century Foundation

As a result of his reelection, Barack Obama is now in an unassailable position to prevent the outbreak of any conflict with Tehran and, as a leader averse to further wars (as in Afghanistan and Iraq), he will not seek one. Here are the reasons why.

Christine Pelosi, 11/07/12

Author, Campaign Boot Camp 2.0

Presidents cannot win without policies to include and empower all Americans, not just the slices of communities needed for electoral success. President Obama and Democrats won a mandate to move us forward with jobs, healthcare reform, equality, and nation building here at home.

Russell Simmons, 11/07/12

Founder, GlobalGrind.com

America is changing, the middle class and poor need support, and every politician who is not ready for this change should wake today and realize that minorities will wait in line into the early hours of the morning to vote them out of office. Forward, we go.

Mark Potok, 11/07/12

Senior Fellow, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

The loss of a white majority in the U.S. has helped drive a truly explosive growth of the radical right in the last three years. For months now, groups on the radical right have increasingly fretted about a possible Obama victory. Now that that has occurred, they may grow more dangerous still.

Richard (RJ) Eskow, 11/07/12

Writer; host, 'The Breakdown'; Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future

This election was a clear and unequivocal victory for the populist positions the president took on the campaign trail. Don't believe the hype: This was a great night for progressives, populists and agents of change.

Tessa Blake, 11/07/12

Director, Five Wives, Three Secretaries and Me

The easy narrative is that Kirsten Gillibrand is scrappy, tenacious and optimistic. And she is all those things. But that doesn't scratch the surface.

Bob Edgar, 11/07/12

President and CEO, Common Cause

The campaign post-mortems -- and recriminations on the Republican side -- already are underway and some big messages sent on Election Day already are being missed.

Paul Szep, 11/07/12

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist