Election 2008: What’s Good for America…
Washington, Nov 5: "The road ahead will be long and the climb will be steep, but we will get there. I promise you that we as a people will get there," US president-elect Barack Obama told a huge crowd that had gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate his victory late on Tuesday.
The Democratic candidate, who was declared elected as the 44th president of the United States roughly an hour earlier by US television networks, appeared before the gathering and the country with his wife Michelle and daughters Natasha and Malia, soaking in the elation of the moment.
Obama, who made history as the first black person to be elected to the highest office in the United States, said "change has come to America", a new dawn that re-established the country's credentials as the world's leading nation and reiterated its founding principles. But he also cautioned the country that "this is not the change, this is the chance to make the change".
Obama told the gathering that he had received an "extraordinarily gracious call" from his defeated Republican rival, Senator John McCain. Gracious in victory, Obama said his rival had fought long and hard in the campaign as he had fought long and hard for his country. "We are better off for the service rendered to the country by this leader," he said, adding that he looked forward to working with him to "renew the promise of this nation".
Obama thanked the "rock of our family, the love of my life, the next first lady" Michelle Obama for her unstinting support and told his daughters that they "have earned the new puppy that is coming with us to the White House".
Obama also thanked his campaign manager and strategists, saying they had mounted "the best campaign ever in the history of the United States".
Obama said the victory, however, belonged to the people of the United States and pledged to remain open to the views of the people and keep listening to them.
Barack Obama Elected US President
Washington, Nov 5: Democrat Barack Obama captured the White House on Tuesday after an extraordinary two-year campaign, defeating Republican John McCain to make history as the first black to be elected US president.
Obama will be sworn in as the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, television networks said. He will face a crush of immediate challenges, from tackling an economic crisis to ending the war in Iraq and striking a compromise on overhauling the health care system.
McCain saw his hopes for victory evaporate with losses in a string of key battleground states led by Ohio, the state that narrowly clinched President George W. Bush's re-election in 2004, and Virginia, a state that had not backed a Democrat since 1964.
Obama led a Democratic electoral landslide that also expanded the party's majorities in both chambers of Congress and firmly repudiated eight years of Republican President George W. Bush's leadership.
The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.
In a campaign dominated at the end by a flood of bad news on the economy, Obama's leadership and proposals on how to handle the crisis tipped the race in his favor. Exit polls showed six of every 10 voters listed the economy as the top issue.
Tens of thousands of Obama supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park for an election night rally that had the air of a celebratory concert, cheering results that showed his victories in key states.
McCain, a 72-year-old Arizona senator and former Vietnam War prisoner, had hoped to become the oldest president to begin a first term in the White House and see his running mate Sarah Palin become the first female U.S. vice president.