Jim Hightower

If for no other reason, President Obama's re-election was a victory in the sense that America averted a hard Romney-Ryan lurch rightward, downward, and backward – all at once. Ouch! That would've hurt.

By campaign's end, it was painfully clear that Romney, a lifelong son of privilege, had no understanding of, empathy with, or appreciation for ordinary workaday Americans. He really is a born CEO who accepts in his heart, mind, and soul the Ayn-Randian fiction that America really is made up of a small class of noble producers… and a mass of moochers.

The man from Bain Capital, who'd made a fortune by taking over corporations and coldly axing longtime loyal employees, quietly brought that corporate side of his character back into play on election night. Even as he was on national television delivering his brief concession speech, his campaign apparatus was being swiftly dismantled. Left in the lurch were Romney's many staffers who'd toiled so faithfully for so long. Late that night, many of these disappointed and weary ones grabbed cabs home from the campaign's headquarters – only to find upon arrival that the Romney-for-President credit cards they'd been using were suddenly no good.

Without even telling these aides, the boss who wanted to be our nation's leader had abruptly yanked this modest benefit from the people who'd tried to help him get there. They'd just lost their jobs, but multimillionaire Mitt stuck them with paying out-of-pocket for cab fare.

Come on, with untold millions stashed in offshore bank accounts, couldn't Romney have ponied up a few small bills to cover this last ride home? Of course he could – but he wouldn't. Of all things to think of doing on election night, cutting off his employees' credit cards was a priority. We're lucky this sorry character lost.