concession speech he had not planned on, and said he would pray for Obama and called on party officials to work with their rival Democrats for the good of the nation. For the Republicans, battered and bowed by defeat, there will be the inevitable soul-searching and recriminations: Texas Senator John Cornyn warning of a "period of reflection and recalibration", adding "While some will want to blame one wing of the party over the other, the reality is candidates from all corners of our GOP lost last night." Republican soul searching For some on the right, the blame will be laid firmly at Mitt Romney 's feet. Most in the party never warmed to him: he appeared too unlikeable, too politically malleable, too moderate, too prone to awkward gaffes. The Romney who came alive in the final weeks of the campaign came alive too late. House Speaker John Boehner, at a Republican election night party in Washington, also seemed in no mood for compromise, telling the crowd that "there's no mandate for raising taxes". But look at the result another way, and outspoken conservatives also lost badly. Todd Akin in Missouri, fell victim to his controversial remarks about rape: so too did Richard Mourdock, who lost his Senate bid in Indiana after saying if a woman got pregnant after rape, it was God's plan. And other liberal measures also scored well on election day. Maine and Maryland became the first states in the Union to legalise same-sex marriage. Two states voted