OBAMA ELECTED 44TH PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES
Carousel FeaturedPublished November 5, 2008 at 5:24 3 CommentsBarack Obama has become the new president of the USA. ‘Change has come to America,’ he declared before tens of thousands of people gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park on the night of his historic election win.
Obama, 47, and his vice-presidential running mate, Joe Biden, won in an electoral college landslide, seizing the swing states of Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Ohio, New Mexico, Iowa and Virginia.
Talking to an ecstatic crowd in his home town, Obama said ‘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.’
McCain conceded defeat to Obama gracefully by announcing to a crowd of shocked Republican supporters ‘my friends, we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken.’
This election is argubaly the most historic of all the elections in United States history as it is the first time a black man has been elected to be president. Fears that many white voters would fail, in the privacy of the polling booth, to vote for a black candidate appeared to be unfounded, suggesting that race is becoming less of an issue in the US.
This fact needs to be set alongside the very great realities of his achievement. Obama put it succinctly in his own victory speech in Chicago: ‘It’s been a long time coming.’ Obama has done what no Democrat has done since Lyndon Johnson nearly half a century ago. He has captured the White House by winning both the majority of the popular vote and by winning an overwhelming victory in the electoral college.
Obama also had a message for those of us in the UK and the rest of the world – ‘to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.’
I’m surprised no one has commented on this story yet. I for one think it is fantastic news, not only for the great work Obama will hopefully achieve, but also it represents an oppertunity for America to regain it’s standing amongst the rest of the world as a country with credible leadership and honest policies. However, there is obviously a difference between being able to convince America (and largely the world) to buy into a sense of hope and change than being able to actually deliver on this. Only time will tell.
What… why didn’t I hear about this? Thank god the Ripple covered it… PHEW! x
I think it is amazing news! Lets hope that Obama can live up to the extremely high expectations everyones going to have of him though. Also it will be fun to watch how quickly he ages over the next 4 years!