HISTORY: OBAMA WINS Key wins in Ohio, Virginia, Florida

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation’s first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. “Change has come,” he told to a huge throng of jubilant supporters.

The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states — Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and more.

On a night for Democrats to savor, they not only elected Obama the nation’s 44th president but padded their majorities in the House and Senate, and come January will control both the White House and Congress for the first time since 1994.

Obama’s election capped a meteoric rise — from mere state senator to president-elect in four years.

In his first speech as victor, to thousands at Grant Park in his home town of Chicago, Obama catalogued the challenges ahead. “The greatest of a lifetime,” he said, “two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.”

He added, “There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.”

McCain called his former rival to concede defeat — and the end of his own 10-year quest for the White House. “The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly,” McCain told disappointed supporters in Arizona.

President Bush added his congratulations from the White House, where his tenure runs out on Jan. 20. “May God bless whoever wins tonight,” he had told dinner guests earlier.

Obama, in his speech, invoked the words of Lincoln and echoed John F. Kennedy.
“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder,” he said.

He and his running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009.

Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession, and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.

The popular vote was close — 51.3 percent to 47.5 percent with 73 percent of all U.S. precincts counted — but not the count in the Electoral College, where it mattered most.

There, Obama’s audacious decision to contest McCain in states that hadn’t gone Democratic in years paid rich dividends.

Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months.

A survey of voters leaving polling places on Tuesday showed the economy was by far the top Election Day issue. Six in 10 voters said so, and none of the other top issues — energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care — was picked by more than one in 10.

In Washington, the Democratic leaders of Congress celebrated.

“It is not a mandate for a party or ideology but a mandate for change,” said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Said Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California: “Tonight the American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America.”

Shortly after midnight in the East, The Associated Press count showed Obama with 338 electoral votes, well over the 270 needed for victory. McCain had 141 after winning states that comprised the normal Republican base.

Interviews with voters suggested that almost six in 10 women were backing Obama nationwide, while men leaned his way by a narrow margin. Just over half of whites supported McCain, giving him a slim advantage in a group that Bush carried overwhelmingly in 2004.

The results of the AP survey were based on a preliminary partial sample of nearly 10,000 voters in Election Day polls and in telephone interviews over the past week for early voters.

Democrats also acclaimed Senate successes by former Gov. Mark Warner in Virginia, Rep. Tom Udall in New Mexico and Rep. Mark Udall in Colorado. All won seats left open by Republican retirements.

In New Hampshire, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican Sen. John Sununu in a rematch of their 2002 race, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole fell to Democrat Kay Hagan in North Carolina.

The Democrats also looked for gains in the House. They defeated Republican incumbents Rep. Tom Feeney and Ric Keller in Florida, 22-year veteran Chris Shays in Connecticut and Rep. Robin Hayes in North Carolina.

At least two Democrats lost their seats. Rep. Tim Mahoney fell after admitting to two extramarital affairs while serving his first term in Florida. In Louisiana, Democratic Rep. Don Cazayoux lost the seat he had won in a special election six months ago.
The resurgent Democrats also elected a governor in one of the nation’s traditional bellwether states when Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon won his race.

A dozen states elected governors, and ballots across the country were dotted with issues ranging from taxes to gay rights.

An estimated 187 million voters were registered, and in an indication of interest in the battle for the White House, 40 million or so had already voted as Election Day dawned.

Obama sought election as one of the youngest presidents, and one of the least experienced in national political affairs.

That wasn’t what set the Illinois senator apart, though — neither from his rivals nor from the other men who had served as president since the nation’s founding more than two centuries ago. A black man, he confronted a previously unbreakable barrier as he campaigned on twin themes of change and hope in uncertain times.

McCain, a prisoner of war during Vietnam, a generation older than his rival at 72, was making his second try for the White House, following his defeat in the battle for the GOP nomination in 2000.

A conservative, he stressed his maverick’s streak. And although a Republican, he did what he could to separate himself from an unpopular president.

For the most part, the two presidential candidates and their running mates, Biden and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, spent weeks campaigning in states that went for Bush four years ago.

McCain and Obama each won contested nominations — the Democrat outdistancing former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton — and promptly set out to claim the mantle of change.

Obama won California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

McCain had Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

He also won at least 3 of Nebraska’s five electoral votes, with the other two in doubt.
What Hoosiers are saying

Hundreds of people gathered at an Indiana Black Expo-sponsored results-watching party Tuesday night. Here’s what some of them had to say after Obama’s victory became clear:

>> “The American people have spoken and elected someone into office who will bring about the change needed in this country. Barack Obama during his tenure will need the support of the American people to end the partisanship and bring all of us together to work for the better good of our country.” — Octa Leach, 53, Indianapolis, substitute teacher.

>> “This has brought to life all the hopes and dreams of our grandparents and great-grandparents who didn’t have the opportunity to vote for a black person and at times, didn’t have the opportunity to vote at all. This brings their legacy to life.” — Yvonne Perkins, 58, Indianapolis, Citizens Gas employee.

>> “It’s an overwhelming feeling that black people in our community need. One reason we never voted is we felt it wouldn’t make a difference. This African-American candidate is not for black or white, he’s for the American right. He’s for the human right. He’ll make black people feel they can accomplish anything. He makes all blacks feel they have a reason and a chance to make this world a better place.” — Sondra Page-Harris, 45, Indianapolis, beauty shop owner.

>> “It’s so significant because he did arrive in the minds of millions and millions of people. Barack is an inspiration to so many young people because they see they can succeed if they put for the effort. It’s a reminder of the struggles of so many before us, so many who fought for the right to vote, a vote we should never take for granted. He showed that it’s possible for anyone of color to be at the top. He showed we are as qualified as anyone else and a person’s skin color should not matter.” — Pamela Hilliard, 53, Indianapolis, postal worker.

>> “History will be changed forever. There is no more quintessential look for the president, for the leader of the free world, for success. This opens up the minds of so many young people, whose expectations have been so low. Because Barack Obama made it to the top, no young black man, no young black woman can ever again say they can’t achieve greatness.” — LeRoy Lewis, 31, Indianapolis, marketing consultant.

>> “This isn’t about black and white. If McCain said what Obama said, if McCain stood for what Obama stood for, I would have voted for McCain. It’s not because he’s black. It’s about what’s good for America.” — Gary Offutt, 55, Indianapolis, truck driver.

>> “I love the fact that he’s energized the country for all people, for black and white and Hispanic, for everyone to create a better United States. He wants things that are good for all us, to promote education, to work for health care, for better pay for teachers, and to end a war no one wants.” — Dave Rose, 53, Indianapolis, consulting company owner.

>> “All my life, I’ve been told I could be president of the United States, but until now, it’s been an elusive thing that never happened. I’m happy as the devil I was alive to see it. This is going to change everything.” — Arthur Carter Sr., 85, Indianapolis, retired accounted, Tuskegee Airman.

Source: indystar.com