Democratic Senator Barack Obama made history on election night becoming the first African-American elected President of the United States of America.
Obama, who only four years ago was serving as a State Senator in Illinois, recorded what many are calling a landslide victory over Republican Senator John McCain and will become the 44th President of the United States when he is sworn into office in January.
“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 the massive crowd assembled in Chicago, IL and millions watching around the world.
When the polls closed in many of the west coast states at 11 p.m. ET, network projections declared that Obama would win the election sending many parts of the city including Jamaica, Queens and Harlem, Manhattan into a frenzy. Obama supporters in those predominantly African-American neighborhoods as well those from other neighborhoods throughout the city blasted music and danced in the street celebrating his historic triumph.
“Like most African-Americans, I am proud of the historical significance of Senator Obama’s victory,” said Queens City Councilmember Leroy Comrie. “For our youth, like my own children, it sends an important and powerful message that this is the greatest nation on earth and if they work hard enough, they can truly realize their dreams.”
Two hours earlier, when polls in New York closed, Obama was quickly declared the state’s winner. After tallying all of the ballots, results showed that nearly three-quarters of Queens voters supported Obama with 436,398 voters casting ballots in favor of him compared to 144,362 for McCain.
Shortly after 11 p.m. ET, McCain called Obama to concede the election and offer praise for the historic campaign and accomplishment.
“In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance,” McCain said. “But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.”
Running on a platform focused on bringing about change throughout the country as well as change in the way government operates, Obama harkened back to that theme when he delivered his victory speech shortly before midnight.
“It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America,” Obama said.
Although most pre-election polls had Obama ahead in many battleground states, as the polls began to close on election night and networks began calling key states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia for Obama, the only suspense would be by how big a margin his victory would be. At press time, Obama had 338 electoral votes compared to McCain’s 161 with results in Missouri and North Carolina still too close to call. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Many exit polls in New York State and throughout the country showed that voters believed that the struggling economy was the number one issue in the campaign. During his speech, Obama continued talking about his message of hope and change, but he cautioned that it would not be an easy ride.
“There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build and threats to meet, alliances to repair,” Obama said. “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.”
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