It’s Obama!

And now we have our answer: It’s President Barack Obama.

For months, we argued. We debated. We snarked on TV, Twitter and Facebook. We fact-checked, counter-fact-checked and countered that with more fact-checking. Some of the facts were even true.

From ObamaCare to Libya, abortion to welfare, deficits to debt, all of America watched as Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney put forward their very different ideas for the future of the country. From trickle-down economics to trickle-down government, we heard both men talk about where we were, how we got there and where we needed to go from there.

And it was a good argument.

Unlike 2008, Republicans nominated possibly their best candidate. Romney was a successful businessman, savior of the 2002 Olympics and possessed of executive experience as the former governor of Massachusetts. He was self-possessed, perhaps to a fault.

There may be some who believe that Romney’s – let’s call it intellectual flexibility – doomed him, and indeed, some voters ended up distrusting him. That wasn’t helped by a covertly taped video in which he denounced “the 47 percent” of the country he said would vote for Obama because they were dependent upon his government. But had the GOP nominated a more conservative candidate, say, Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum, the party would only have lost the election by an even larger margin.

On top of that, Romney picked a much better vice-presidential running mate than John McCain did in 2008. Rep. Paul Ryan was competent in domestic and foreign affairs. Nobody felt the need to ask him which newspapers he read.

In short, Republicans did not throw the election of 2012.

Instead of questioning Obama’s mentors, pastor or patriotism, the Romney-Ryan ticket (mostly) took aim at his record. Not enough jobs were created, they said. Too many people were on welfare. America’s resolve overseas was in doubt. The president’s health care plan was bad for America (although amazingly similar to the one Romney put in place in Massachusetts). Obama was forced to defend his record on all of those counts.

We had the argument. And, in the grand constitutional method we’ve used for more than 220 years, we settled it with an election. America’s verdict, by a margin of 61,172,727 to 58,167,248: Obama.

Yes, it was close (just more than 3 million votes decided the outcome). But the verdict is clear.

By majority vote, Americans decided they did not want the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act repealed. They ruled that America’s standing in the world was fine with them.

They decided that, notwithstanding Romney’s business experience and in spite of his detailed, 59-point plan for economic recovery (later boiled to five points), America was better off with Obama in charge than his Republican rival.

There was, quite literally, weeping and probably some gnashing of teeth. There was anger and resentment and blame levied at the majority for allegedly voting for “free stuff.” The rationalizations will continue.

But there can be no confusion: This nation chose Barack Obama to be its president. After a full and fair debate, with plenty of ups and downs for both men, Americans said they liked Obama’s ideas, his philosophy and his plans better than Romney’s.

Of course, the arguments will go on. That’s the nature of America, to argue, debate and discuss, sometimes heatedly, the best way to go. Committed Republicans will not suddenly become Democrats, endorsing higher taxes or government stimulus programs, just because Obama won. In fact, they’ve promised to fight on, and try to convince Americans that they’re right.

Maybe they will, someday. But for now, leaders on both sides in Washington need to take note that the American people listened to the argument, and finally made a decision. The verdict is in.

And it’s Obama.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 383-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.