Barack Obama Wins Presidency

John McCain Concedes As Democrat Earns Historic Victory; "A New Dawn Of American Leadership Is At Hand," Says President Elect

(CBS)  In an extraordinary moment in America's history, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has won the 2008 presidential election and will become the 44th president of the United States and the country's first African-American leader.

"Because of what we did on this day, in this election, in this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama told 125,000 supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate his victory.

"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," he added.

"A new dawn of American leadership is at hand," Obama said.

Obama's victory comes on the strength of projected wins in battleground states that went to President George W. Bush four years ago - Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Iowa - as well as a victory in Pennsylvania, a state that John McCain had hoped to turn blue to buoy his bid for an upset victory.

As the results came in Tuesday evening, a senior aide told CBS News the McCain camp was hoping for a "miracle," but the Arizona senator was not able to defy expectations in one of the worst election years for Republicans in decades.

"We have come to the end of a long journey," McCain said in a concession speech late Tuesday night. "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly."

"Let there be no reason now for any American not to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth," he added, lauding the historic nature of Obama's victory for African-Americans.

Both McCain and President George W. Bush called Obama Tuesday evening to congratulate him on his victory, the Obama campaign said. The president also called McCain, the White House said, telling the Republican nominee, "John, you gave it your all."

Obama's victory "is in so many ways a complete repudiation of everything about the presidency of George W. Bush," writes CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs.

(Read Ververs' analysis of Obama's victory here.)

Hillary Clinton, the New York senator whom Obama defeated in a tough Democratic primary battle, released a statement saying that she will do "all that I can" to support Obama and Joe Biden, the vice president elect, "in the difficult work that lies ahead."

She said that under their leadership, as well as that of a Democratic Congress, "we will chart a better course to build a new economy and rebuild our leadership in the world."

"Obama’s ability to retain an overwhelming majority of Clinton support was a key factor in his victory over McCain," writes CBSNews.com political analyst Samuel J. Best.

(Read Best's analysis of what Obama's win means here.)

Democrats increased their majorities in both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, assuring that their party will control Congress and the White House just two years after the Republican Party controlled both.

(Read about Senate results here and House races here.)

"The road ahead will be long," Obama said in his remarks. "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."

In addition to the above states, CBS News estimates that Obama will win California, New York, Washington, Michigan, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Illinois, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Hawaii, Connecticut, Maine, Delaware, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.

McCain will take Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah, West Virginia, South Dakota, Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Tennessee, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and Oklahoma, the network projects.

Obama is now estimated to take at least 349 electoral votes, while McCain has 163. 270 electoral votes are needed to take the White House.

CBS News has not yet projected winners in North Carolina or Missouri. For full election results, click here.

Exit polls suggested women helped propel Obama to victory, backing the Democratic nominee 56 percent to 43 percent. Obama also held a slight edge among men.

The Democratic nominee did not win white voters. The group - which made up three quarters of voters - broke for McCain 55 percent to 43 percent. But black voters, 13 percent of the electorate, voted overwhelmingly for Obama, 95 percent to 4 percent. (Click here for full exit poll results.)

Hispanics backed Obama over McCain by a margin of 66 percent to 31 percent, helping him take the Western states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. Young voters between 18 and 29 - 18 percent of the electorate - favored Obama 66 percent to 31 percent. Independents also backed Obama, by a small margin.

Exit polls showed widespread pessimism about the economy and the country's leadership. Three in four voters say the U.S. is on the wrong track, while voters gave high disapproval ratings to both President Bush (72 percent) and Congress (73 percent). Voters overwhelmingly cited the struggling economy as the most important issue in their decision.

Obama's win came "on the basis of deep voter concerns about the state of the economy and strong disapproval of President Bush," writes CBS News political consultant Stanley Feldman.

(Read Feldman's analysis of why Obama won here.)

Long lines were commonplace across the country Tuesday as people waited to cast ballots, with waits of up to six-and-a-half hours in Missouri and four hours in Manhattan. But many voters persevered despite the long waits, and elections officials predicted record turnout nationwide.

"This is our moment," Obama concluded in his victory remarks. "This is our time to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids, to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace, to reclaim the American Dream."

His election, he said, was an opportunity to reaffirm "that out of many, we are one, that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes we can."

[a_nother2002]

"History repeats itself"

Posted by slowtrain4 at 07:15 PM : Nov 06, 2008

Yup Republicans cause 1 depression, and due to thier policies we are facing another!

Why is Liberal a dirty word? As a Brit I understand it to be someone who is prepared to listen and think, somone who is going to listen to all sides and make a measured judgement

Liberal:
1. Broad-minded ; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms.
2. Marked by generosity.
3. given freely and unstintingly. liberal suggests openhandedness in the giver and largeness in the thing or amount given a teacher liberal with her praise .
So Liberal means nice? friendly? helpful? Hold on the way I see it used here I thought it meant
Muderer Rapist Molester or at least something that bad.
U.S.A Understand Liberal is not a dirty word.
Also you say

''Over 30 and Liberal only means you have no formed opinions and/or no real experience''

From the Americans I meet most are Democrat.
This seems to be a case of those who want to learn and understand the world better are Demo
Those who want to crawl under thier rock and wave sticks at anything new and shoot anything differant are Repub.
Grow up and realise the world is a big place and is only as scary as you make it in your head. Explore and you will see and learn more then you ever could staying hidden under your own little piece of the world.

[a_nother2002]

This is funny. Some seem to think we want Obama because us forieners can ''walk over him'' ermmmm NO.

As a Brit I was sick of being put along Bush the War monger and his cronies so we disliked what America stood for. Obama represents change and hope, a new direction, thats why we like him. Yes it may take a few years to get it working but the Republican idea was broken. You needed new ideas not more ''Trickle down economics''. They failed in 1929 the are failing now.

Learn from mistakes made. We all make them but repeating them? That is real stupidity and Republicans still think it works! Well the rich would like it, it keeps them that way.

Roosevelt upset the rich by taxing them to help the regular man and look what happened! He was a hero.
I sense Deja vu,
For Hoover read Bush
For Roosevelt read Obama.

Finally when you did not want him he was ''black'' now he is not. ***??? If as you say race does not matter then why is it an issue to you? Half caste, Black, African American. Who gives a c***. We salute America for the courage to look in a new direction. The elephant is dead. flogged to death by the people it represents. They abandoned the common people. Now they have decided that a new approach is needed. Get behind your new President and work as a nation to repair the damage that is done. No Joke it will be hard work but in 4 years I think America will be able to look back at this moment with pride.
Congrats Obama and good luck.

[gaye5]

Obama is not the first black President... Why dont they say he is a white President, he is of course half white, so why say he is black. Yes he is obviously coloured but he is not black... Are they not going to acknowledge his white side??? was that for votes or something.. If he has something against the whites he has to remember that it was his own ancestors who did this to the blacks as well.. All I can say is that IF this man is genuine, and not going to destroy our democracy, and way of life, then it is fantastic...

[gaye5]

I was wondering if any of you have any video''s of obama and world peace, i would like to see what he thinks about the issue?

[drgochenouer]

I have compared the state-by-state education statistics from the 2000 census with the state-by-state presidential vote. This is the breakdown:
The voting by state gave McCain 22 states versus 29 (including D.C.) for Obama.

When comparing the vote-by-state with the states with the highest percentage of advanced degrees,
the top 16 states were all Obama states and at the bottom, 13 of the 16 states with the least number
of advanced degrees were McCain states.

When comparing the vote-by-state with the states with the highest percentage of bachelor%u2019s degrees, 15 of the top 16 states were Obama states and at the bottom, 12 of the bottom 16 were McCain states.

When comparing the vote-by-state with the states with the highest percentage of high school graduates, the trend is a little weaker with Obama getting 9 of the top 15 high school educated states and McCain getting 10 of the bottom 15 high school educated.

You can build your own spreadsheet with these the two databases:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_presidential_election_united_states#Results_by_state
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1082169/RESULTS-SPECIAL-State-state-guide-U-S-Presidential-race.html

[talaan77]

The population of youth voters was not the only people who voted for Barack, and youth does not mean uneducated or uniformed as much as you would like to believe

[talaan77]

The HOLE wasn''''t dug until 2006... AFTER the DEMS took control of congress! It has only been two years of them in control and look where we are, now thanks to those who only vote for a smile a charisma we get 4 additional years to dig even deeper! It is going to be sad when those who voted for Obama realize the reason the rest of the world is so happy is because they can walk all over us now; at least Bush had the guts to take the fight to the terrorists soil and there has not been an attack on US soil since doing so, why is that so hard for people to understand!
Posted by HITAH

So as far as your concern for the first six years of under Bush the Country was just fine? We did not go after the terroist that attack us? when are you going to understand that. Our presence in Iraq has caused a increasein terroist recruitment. It was years before an attack on America was successful, why do you think because there hasn''t been attacks every year because of anything Bush did. We are not they only people who have been attacked and even without a war those other countries have not continously been attacked

[hitah]

The HOLE wasn''t dug until 2006... AFTER the DEMS took control of congress! It has only been two years of them in control and look where we are, now thanks to those who only vote for a smile a charisma we get 4 additional years to dig even deeper! It is going to be sad when those who voted for Obama realize the reason the rest of the world is so happy is because they can walk all over us now; at least Bush had the guts to take the fight to the terrorists soil and there has not been an attack on US soil since doing so, why is that so hard for people to understand!

[txgrouch2007]

we are rock bottom, the only way is up
Posted by spinproof at 10:28 PM : Nov 05, 2008

Why are people posting this all of a sudden?

It''s such nonsense. We''re NOWHERE NEAR rock bottom. Anyone who thinks this is rock bottom has lived a very pampered and sheltered life.

IT CAN GET A LOT WORSE THAN THIS before it gets better.

[spinproof]

The experience argument is also a joke, experience has the U.S. in the mess its in now, so flush experience. No experience and a complete fresh start may be just what the doctor ordered. Look around, things are a total mess, we are rock bottom, the only way is up, the only direction is up. At least give Pres. elect Obama his traditional honeymoon and first 100 days.

[txgrouch2007]

Is he really an African American? I mean he is 50% Black and 50% white.
Posted by xager8on1 at 07:13 PM : Nov 05, 2008

GROAN! Would y''all just GIVE UP on this lame argument? NOBODY CARES!!! Why is it so hard for you to understand that???

How''s this for a compromise: He''s the BLACKEST President since Bill Clinton.

And he''s probably blacker than Clinton, even WITH his saxaphone.

[hitah]

Be careful what you wish for! Obama was elected by a group of young and naive voters who were entranced by a smile and charisma, just the same as Jimmy Carter in the 70''s! I pray the outcome is different since it doesn''t appear Ronald Regan will be available in 2012 to start digging us out of the mess I fear Jimmy jr. has in store for us! God Bless America!

[spinproof]

Posted by onarollagain at 08:27 PM : Nov 05, 2008

These Stock Statistics don''t really apply in Pres. elect Obama''s case because of the unusual volatility of the Stock Market during the last 60 days. The Stock Market has been in a free fall just prior to Obama''s election, more down than up. Obama just happens to get elected in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the great depression, has not even been sworn in yet and this sudden drop today is his fault, that''s rich, weak, but rich, I don''t think so.

[onarollagain]

Hold on to your hats; history was really made...the worst ever loss after a presidential election....wise American investors know what he is going to do to them so they are getting out!! The facts speak for themselves....suckers!! America has been duped!!

Year Dow S&P Nasdaq President elect
2008 -5.05 -5.27 -5.53 Barack Obama
2004 +1.01 1.12 0.98 George W. Bush
2000 -0.41 -1.58 -5.39 No decision: G.W. Bush v Al Gore*
1996 1.59 1.46 1.34 William Clinton
1992 -0.91 -0.67 0.16 William Clinton
1988 -0.43 -0.66 -0.29 George H. W. Bush
1984 -0.88 -0.73 -0.32 Ronald Reagan
1980 1.70 1.77 1.49 Ronald Reagan
1976 -0.99 -1.14 -1.12 James Carter
1972 -0.11 -0.55 -0.39 Richard Nixon
1968 0.34 0.16 --- Richard Nixon
1964 -0.19 -0.05 --- Lyndon Johnson
1960 0.77 0.44 --- John Kennedy

[onarollagain]

Hold on to your hats; history was really made...the worst ever loss after a presidential election....wise American investors know what he is going to do to them so they are getting out!! The facts speak for themselves....suckers!! America has been duped!!

Year Dow S&P Nasdaq President elect
2008 -5.05 -5.27 -5.53 Barack Obama
2004 +1.01 1.12 0.98 George W. Bush
2000 -0.41 -1.58 -5.39 No decision: G.W. Bush v Al Gore*
1996 1.59 1.46 1.34 William Clinton
1992 -0.91 -0.67 0.16 William Clinton
1988 -0.43 -0.66 -0.29 George H. W. Bush
1984 -0.88 -0.73 -0.32 Ronald Reagan
1980 1.70 1.77 1.49 Ronald Reagan
1976 -0.99 -1.14 -1.12 James Carter
1972 -0.11 -0.55 -0.39 Richard Nixon
1968 0.34 0.16 --- Richard Nixon
1964 -0.19 -0.05 --- Lyndon Johnson
1960 0.77 0.44 --- John Kennedy

Is he really an African American? I mean he is 50% Black and 50% white. What if He took on his mothers physical characteristics, e.g. white skin, non-curly hair, etc. and looked Caucasian. Would we still considered him an African American? One other thing, wasnt he born in Hawaii? Doesnt that mean he is an American regardless of his skin color?

What urks me the most is that EVERYONE is so bent on emphasizing his Black heritage and NO ONE is even looking at His Mother heritage. Is this hypocritical or not?

Personally, It doesnt matter to me if he was blue, orange or whatever color. What matters is the principles that he stands for. So, has he ever in public, ridiculed the media for ONLY saying that he is an African American? No, not once. And that in itself tells me a persons character.

You are an American, if born or naturalized in this Country. You arent a German-American, Asian-American, Latino-American, etc. That is your heritage but dont single yourself out. A true American believes that they are Americans regardless of their heritage.

[spinproof]

Posted by alanrobisch2 at 06:18 PM : Nov 05, 2008

It''s not clear that John McCain was the better candidate in a health context, at age 72 and tortured for over 5 years as a Prisoner of War (POW), John McCain has many hidden illnesses as a result and suffers in silence, rumored to not even be able to raise his arms above his head. John McCain has also had several bouts with Cancer. John McCain is robust and active and on the surface his health does not appear to be an issue, but under the surface I think there is another health story there due to his torture as a POW well hidden from the public view. Despite his healthy appearance John McCain was still human the last time I checked and subject to the wears and tears like the rest of us and at age 72 that wear and tear is starting to show. This is why Sarah Palin''s selection was so controversial, she may actually have been called to serve as President sooner rather than later.

[alanrobisch]

It saddens me greatly that Barrack Obama was elected president. I have no question in my mind that John McCain was the more experienced and better prepared to be president.

We now have the apparent decision of american voters to vote for the celebrity rather than the person with the greater ability. If John McCain had run in 2000, I have no doubt that the mess that washington became would have been avoided.

I realize there were good reasons to reject things happenning over the last 8 yrs yet I have no doubt that John McCain would have been that man.

We have elected a radical liberal who will see to it that there is no chance that roe v wade will be overturned and who will if he can try to create a social welfare system comparable to that in europe with equal amount of taxation.

He has used class warfare to help himself win yet in spite of that if the recent mess on wall street he probably would not have won.

I can only hope that he does not follow his senatorial record and if the economy and recession continue he may have low popularity ratings the same time next year

[denn034]

Congratulations on becoming America''s first black President, Obama! My problem with Obama was his politics not his gender or race as was the case among Democrats during the Primary.

[mommajommah]

I''d like to extend a Laurel, and Hardy handshake, to our newwwwwwwwww.........