“The numbers we were looking at looked like we stood a pretty good chance of winning. So, when the numbers came in, going the other direction. When we saw the turnout that was occurring in urban areas that were unprecedented, it did come as a bit of a shock. So, those are the toughest losses to have — the ones that catch you by surprise.”

— Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), in an interview with WISN-TV.

With her razor thin Arizona congressional race finally called, Kyrsten Sinema (D) “becomes the first openly bisexual member of Congress,” the AP reports.

“Her victory came in a year when three states approved gay marriage, and at least five openly gay Democrats were elected to House seats. A Wisconsin congresswoman also became the first openly gay person elected to the Senate.”

CBS News reports “it is now becoming clear just how lopsided President Obama’s victory was in some cities: in dozens of urban precincts, Mitt Romney earned literally zero votes.”

“The Phildadelphia Inquirer reported today that, in 59 precincts in inner-city Philadelphia, the GOP nominee received not a single vote. And according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, nine precincts in Cleveland returned zero Romney votes.”

“At first blush, it seems almost impossible: how, even in some of the most heavily Democratic strongholds in the country, could a major party’s presidential candidate fail to earn even one vote?”

“We hit the numbers we needed to hit. Our ground game turned out the people it needed to turnout. They just turned out more.”

— Romney political director Rich Beeson, in an interview with National Review, saying the campaign’s ground game “worked fine.”

The latest National Journal Political Insiders Poll finds Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on who might be the strongest Republican to run for president in 2016, but both groups look first to Florida.

GOP insiders: Marco Rubio 40%, Jeb Bush 27%, Paul Ryan 9%, Rick Santorum 9%, Chris Christie 8%

Democratic insiders: Jeb Bush 47%, Chris Christie 28%, Marco Rubio 13%

Eric Hartsburg — who was paid $15,000 to get a five inch Romney campaign tattoo on his face — now tells Politico he’s “totally disappointed, man. I’m the guy who
has egg all over his face, but instead of egg, it’s a big Romney/Ryan
tattoo. It’s there for life.”

But he added, “I’m hoping this opens some other doors in the entertainment business.”

First Read: “For all the talk about how Mitt Romney and the Republicans lost when it came to demographics, the turnout, and the tactics, the exit polls also show that they lost when it came to the issues.”

“For years, the GOP has branded itself as the party that supports low taxes (especially for the wealthy) and opposes abortion and gay marriage. But according to the exit polls from last week’s presidential election, a combined 60% said that tax rates should increase either for everyone or for those making more than $250,000. Just 35% said the tax rates shouldn’t increase for anyone.”

“What’s more, 59% said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. And by a 49%-to-46% margin, voters said that their states should legally recognize same-sex marriage.”

Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist gave CBS News an interesting theory as to why President Obama won the presidential election.

Said Norquist: “The president was committed; elected on the basis that he was not Romney and Romney was a poopy head and you should vote against Romney and he won by two points. But he didn’t make the case that we should have higher taxes and higher spending, he kind of sounded like the opposite.”

A new website tracks Mitt Romney’s fade from Facebook in real time.

Robert Jeffress, a Texas megachurch pastor, said that President Obama’s re-election victory would lead to the rise of the Antichrist, the Christian Post reports.

Said Jeffress: “I want you to hear me tonight, I am not saying that President Obama is the Antichrist, I am not saying that at all. One reason I know he’s not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes.”

He added: “But what I am saying is this: the course he is choosing to lead our nation is paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist.”