ID :
28702
Wed, 11/05/2008 - 19:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/28702
The shortlink copeid
Obama scripts history; first Black to be elected US President
Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Nov 5 (PTI) Democrat Barack Obama Wednesday
wrote himself into history becoming the first Black U.S.
President in a landslide election win over Republican rival
John McCain, engineering a huge political transformation four
decades after the peak of civil rights movement for racial
equality.
The 47-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer and Illinois
Senator, born to a Kenyan father and White American mother,
secured 338 electoral college votes against 159 of McCain out
of a total 538 after an epic 21-month-long campaign in the
most expensive-ever election.
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts 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 democracy, tonight is your answer,"
an overjoyed Obama told thousands of his cheering supporters
in Chicago waving to them in the company of his wife Michelle
and daughters Malia and Sasha.
Both his defeated rival and the incumbent in the White
House George W. Bush called up Obama to congratulate him on
his victory and offer him their support.
Obama will be sworn in as the 44th US President on
January 20 next year, marking a new milestone in the history
of the U.S. where civil rights movement leader Martin Luther
King had laid out the dream of racial equality.
The Illinois Senator, who was a non-entity in the
national scene four years ago, defeated charismatic Hillary
Clinton in party primaries to clinch the Democratic
nomination.
Obama, who will have pro-India Joe Biden as his Vice
President, had voted for the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and
favours close strategic ties with New Delhi though he has
strong views on outsourcing.
He faces immediate challenges of a worsening domestic
economy, its global impact and the foreign policy mess he
inherits due to the American war in Iraq and the campaign
against al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban in
Afghanistan.
On January 20 when he enters the White House, Obama would
realise the objective of the mission launched by Abraham
Lincoln, who also hailed from Illinois, about 150 years ago
when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed
African-Americans from slavery.
It will also come 43 years after the country enacted a
law that gave the Blacks the right to vote in many southern
states.
Obama's terrific showing, riding a wave of discontent
against incumbent Bush's policies, swept aside Republicans in
the battleground states of Ohio, Virginia Pennsylvania,
Florida and California and made major inroads into Republican
strongholds to gain a monopoly of power in Washington -- the
White House and both the chambers of the U.S. Congress.
He gave early notice of the unfolding events by capturing
Pennsylvania, a Democratic state 72-year-old McCain had hoped
to get and adding to his kitty Ohio, the Republican stronghold
that had swept Bush to power in 2004, and Virginia, which had
not voted for a Democrat since 1964.
With the exception of Texas, which has 34 electoral
college votes, and a clutch of Republican states, McCain could
not stop Obama's momentum.
Democrats are expected to gain at least 25 seats in the
House of Representatives and make major inroads into Senate,
perhaps even getting within the range of the filibuster-proof
majority of 60 seats in the 100-member chamber.
McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, conceded defeat in his
call to Obama. "We have come to the end of a long journey. The
American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly," he
said in an address to his supporters in Phoenix.
Noting the significance of Obama's election, McCain said
"this is a historic election and I recognise the special
significance it has for African-Americans and for the special
pride that must be their's tonight.
"America today is a world away from the cruel and
frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of
this than the election of an African-American to the
Presidency of the United States."
In his victory speech in Chicago's Grand Park, Obama, a
powerful orator, told Americans "the road ahead will be long.
Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or
even one term, but America I have never been more hopeful than
I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you we as a
people will get there."
After his victory, Hillary called him to promise her full
support and congratulated Americans for making him President.
"In quiet, solitary acts of citizenship, American voters
gave voice to their hopes and their values, voted for change,
and refused to be invisible any longer," she said in a
statement.
Bush also telephoned the President-elect to congratulate
him on his "awesome night."
"Mr President-elect, congratulations to you. What an
awesome night for you, your family and your supporters. Laura
and I called to congratulate you and your good bride," White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino quoted Bush as telling Obama.
PTI VSC
AM
Washington, Nov 5 (PTI) Democrat Barack Obama Wednesday
wrote himself into history becoming the first Black U.S.
President in a landslide election win over Republican rival
John McCain, engineering a huge political transformation four
decades after the peak of civil rights movement for racial
equality.
The 47-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer and Illinois
Senator, born to a Kenyan father and White American mother,
secured 338 electoral college votes against 159 of McCain out
of a total 538 after an epic 21-month-long campaign in the
most expensive-ever election.
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts 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 democracy, tonight is your answer,"
an overjoyed Obama told thousands of his cheering supporters
in Chicago waving to them in the company of his wife Michelle
and daughters Malia and Sasha.
Both his defeated rival and the incumbent in the White
House George W. Bush called up Obama to congratulate him on
his victory and offer him their support.
Obama will be sworn in as the 44th US President on
January 20 next year, marking a new milestone in the history
of the U.S. where civil rights movement leader Martin Luther
King had laid out the dream of racial equality.
The Illinois Senator, who was a non-entity in the
national scene four years ago, defeated charismatic Hillary
Clinton in party primaries to clinch the Democratic
nomination.
Obama, who will have pro-India Joe Biden as his Vice
President, had voted for the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and
favours close strategic ties with New Delhi though he has
strong views on outsourcing.
He faces immediate challenges of a worsening domestic
economy, its global impact and the foreign policy mess he
inherits due to the American war in Iraq and the campaign
against al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban in
Afghanistan.
On January 20 when he enters the White House, Obama would
realise the objective of the mission launched by Abraham
Lincoln, who also hailed from Illinois, about 150 years ago
when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed
African-Americans from slavery.
It will also come 43 years after the country enacted a
law that gave the Blacks the right to vote in many southern
states.
Obama's terrific showing, riding a wave of discontent
against incumbent Bush's policies, swept aside Republicans in
the battleground states of Ohio, Virginia Pennsylvania,
Florida and California and made major inroads into Republican
strongholds to gain a monopoly of power in Washington -- the
White House and both the chambers of the U.S. Congress.
He gave early notice of the unfolding events by capturing
Pennsylvania, a Democratic state 72-year-old McCain had hoped
to get and adding to his kitty Ohio, the Republican stronghold
that had swept Bush to power in 2004, and Virginia, which had
not voted for a Democrat since 1964.
With the exception of Texas, which has 34 electoral
college votes, and a clutch of Republican states, McCain could
not stop Obama's momentum.
Democrats are expected to gain at least 25 seats in the
House of Representatives and make major inroads into Senate,
perhaps even getting within the range of the filibuster-proof
majority of 60 seats in the 100-member chamber.
McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, conceded defeat in his
call to Obama. "We have come to the end of a long journey. The
American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly," he
said in an address to his supporters in Phoenix.
Noting the significance of Obama's election, McCain said
"this is a historic election and I recognise the special
significance it has for African-Americans and for the special
pride that must be their's tonight.
"America today is a world away from the cruel and
frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of
this than the election of an African-American to the
Presidency of the United States."
In his victory speech in Chicago's Grand Park, Obama, a
powerful orator, told Americans "the road ahead will be long.
Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or
even one term, but America I have never been more hopeful than
I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you we as a
people will get there."
After his victory, Hillary called him to promise her full
support and congratulated Americans for making him President.
"In quiet, solitary acts of citizenship, American voters
gave voice to their hopes and their values, voted for change,
and refused to be invisible any longer," she said in a
statement.
Bush also telephoned the President-elect to congratulate
him on his "awesome night."
"Mr President-elect, congratulations to you. What an
awesome night for you, your family and your supporters. Laura
and I called to congratulate you and your good bride," White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino quoted Bush as telling Obama.
PTI VSC
AM
