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Obama Wins White House, Becomes First Black President
Barack Obama will become the first black president of the United States,
with a sweeping Election Day victory.
President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and daughter Sasha, 7,
wave as they take the stage at his election night party at Grant Park in
Chicago, Tuesday night, Nov. 4, 2008. (AP Photo)
FOXNews.com. Tuesday, November 04, 2008. Barack Obama made history
Tuesday (tonight) night when he was elected to become the first black
president of the United States.
The 47-year-old Democratic junior senator from Illinois swept to a
landslide victory over his Republican opponent, Arizona Sen. John
McCain, building an Electoral College majority of at least 349 votes.
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place
where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our
founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our
democracy, tonight is your answer," Obama told a massive crowd of
cheering supporters in Chicago's Grant Park Tuesday night.
"It's been a long time coming, but tonight because of what we did on
this day, in this election, on this defining moment, change is coming to
America."
With his victory, Obama, the Hawaiian-born son of a black man from Kenya
and a white woman from Kansas, is poised to turn the page on Republican
policies of the last eight years, as well as some racial barriers that
have stood for generations.
McCain, speaking in Phoenix, Ariz., said he called Obama to concede. He
urged his supporters to move beyond their "disappointment," and said
Obama was worthy of respect for the race he had run.
"Whatever our differences, we are all Americans," McCain said, with
running mate Sarah Palin standing by his side. "Though we fell short,
the failure is mine, not yours."
President Bush also called Obama to congratulate him.
The Illinois senator climbed over the top at 11 p.m. ET Tuesday with
victories in California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. It takes 270
electoral votes to win.
The crowd of tens of thousands in Grant Park erupted in cheers once it
was clear the Illinois senator had clinched the presidency.
They were eagerly watching the returns build in their candidate's favor
all evening. Obama delivered a crushing defeat earlier in the night by
clinching Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, states that were key to
McCain's electoral strategy. Obama later won the major swing state of
Florida.
The Democratic nominee also took a commanding lead over his Republican
rival with a slew of victories in reliable East Coast and Midwestern
territory, and red states scattered throughout the country. In the end,
he significantly expanded his party's 2004 electoral map.
Obama has so far won New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont and the
District of Columbia. He also won all four electoral votes in Maine and
scored a victory in his home state of Illinois, as well as in Indiana,
Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and New Mexico.
McCain has won Texas and Georgia, as well as Idaho, Alaska, Arizona,
South Dakota, South Carolina, Mississippi, Utah, Louisiana, Arkansas,
North Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, Alabama, Oklahoma, Montana, Tennessee,
West Virginia and Kentucky. He won three of Nebraska's five electoral
votes.
The Democratic nominee has so far amassed 349 electoral votes to
McCain's 158.
Pennsylvania, with its 21 electoral votes, was one of the few states
that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election that McCain was
actively pursuing. Another was New Hampshire, which Obama also won
Tuesday. McCain aides initially objected to the Pennsylvania call,
complaining that it was too early to project.
But McCain's narrow path to victory was made air tight after he lost
Ohio and its 20 electoral votes, and Virginia's 13.
Races in Missouri and North Carolina were still too close to call.
Both candidates took their campaigns well into Election Day, as each
battled for votes at the 11th hour.
McCain, who all along faced an uphill road to attaining the 270
electoral votes needed to win, first flew into Colorado for his final
rally. Then he visited dozens of volunteers at a New Mexico phone bank,
before finally heading home to Phoenix.
Obama, in an election day tradition that perhaps demonstrated his
confidence, played basketball Tuesday afternoon in Chicago with friends
and staff.
Both candidates and their running mates joined enthusiastic voters
Tuesday morning in casting their ballots. An estimated 153 million
voters were eligible, and in an indication of interest in the battle for
the White House, 40 million of them had already voted as Election Day
dawned.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The M.C.U.D., Wishes you
and your campaign:
Congratulations!... Congratulations!
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