Combined spending in the 2012 federal election cycle could top a record six billion dollars, according to a recent estimate. Guests also discuss how newly drawn districts altered the dynamics of several congressional races across the country, particularly in California.

The election problems in Florida that kept the nation waiting more than a month for the outcome of the presidential race back in 2000 have largely been resolved. But the state has come up with a whole new set of difficulties that led to long lines and another slow count.

"No campaign is perfect," Mitt Romney said on Election Day. "Like any campaign, people can point to mistakes." And so here we are, as the election dust settles, asking seasoned political observers to do just that — point out a handful of foul-ups, fallacies and false steps in Romney's run.

The president's campaign fine-tuned its appeal to a younger, less-white electorate and got its supporters to turn out in much larger numbers than Republicans had anticipated. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney was hurt by a lack of money at a critical moment.

California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have ended the death penalty in the state. But they did pass a proposition that weakens the state's three-strikes law, which served as a model for other states around the nation.