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UMaine Political Expert Weighs In On Election Results


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Orono - On a national level, not much was changed on Election Night, despite all of the chatter about Americans being fed up with our government.

TV5 spoke with UMaine Associate Professor of Political Science Mark Brewer who says there's a lot we can learn from this election cycle.

He says the election made it clear that non-white and young voters can't be ignored. He also says that candidates have to be very careful about the way they speak about certain issues, particularly concerning women voters.

Finally Brewer says old-fashioned campaigning, like knocking on doors and getting people out to the polls, still works.

Now that President Obama has won a second term, he says Republicans have to decide what the future of their party is going to look like.

Brewer said, "Any time a party loses a presidential race it's going to be fractured to a certain degree. Tthere's going to be some people who will say we should have done this, other people will say we should have done that. I think there's going to be a big debate over the next couple of years about whether the party needs to move toward the center and nominate more moderate candidates or whether the party needs to embrace its conservative base and nominate clear conservatives for office and run as the conservative option."

Brewer says it will be fascinating to watch what happens next.

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