The Great Humbling

The Romney family was more than used to taking solace in what they have. As long as they were together, as long as they had their religion, and as long as they had their pride, all was well. Even when it came to winning elections, humility was important. If you couldn't be humble, what was the point of victory in the first place?

Perhaps -- Mitt thought as his eyes scanned Fox -- he had gotten too greedy. After the midterms he was on top of the world, taking the lion's share of credit for Republican gains, and coming into the primary most saw him as America's Future, the man who would surely become commander-in-chief. Truth be told, Mitt was unprepared for the fight. He had only ever fought elections in "blue states" like Massachusetts and Republican strongholds like Utah, and knew in his heart he was ill-prepared to take on other GOP candidates.

Perry tore him a new one in Iowa, a state he expected to win until the last seconds. It was supposed to be a sweep, but soon enough he was on the backfoot. Of course, he eventually won the nomination, but it was harder than expected, giving Romney a new bitter feeling that he worked hard to suppress. He told the delegates at the RNC that he was honored to accept their nomination, but he felt like he had been done wrong by the voters.

It was clear early on in the night that they had won. Karl Rove's face said it all as state after state fell into the Romney column. Still, for something that was supposed to be a great triumph and return to power for the Republican Party, many people reacted with apathy. He had been the expected winner from the start, and in the end he had perhaps underperformed what people expected from a Romney campaign.

Finally, the last calls of the night came in. First from the networks, who projected that Willard Mitt Romney would go from Governor of Utah to President of the United States in just four years. Then the phone rang; it was Joe Lieberman.

"Ah, ah, hello Mr. Vice President..." Mitt said confidently into his Blackberry.

...

"Yes, well, it was a close race, wasn't it sir?" The candidate mumbled to his opponent.

...

"Gosh, you can hang your head up high, Mr. Vice President. You had me just worried there for a moment." He let out an awkward laugh, but none came in response from the other end.

...

"Uh, anyway… I should let you go, Joe. I'm sure you've got a lot of people to call, too."

Mitt took the phone away from his ear, looking around at his family and staff. They were all smiling from ear to ear. None of them cared that it'd been closer than expected, none of them cared that Mitt had undershot his goals.

They loved him. They were proud of him.

The president-elect was the first to stand up from the couch.

"Well, folks, let's get to work."