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AMERICA MAKES HISTORY

— Photo: AFP

Savouring the moment: The President-elect, who said he was humbled by his victory, acknowledges his debt to the American people in the company of his wife Michelle, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill at Grant Park, Chicago, on election night.

CHICAGO: An unhappy and unsettled America picked an unlikely President on Tuesday night — Barack Obama, a young African-American lawmaker from Illinois who sparked a sweeping political movement with an eloquent promise of change and, most important, hope.

“Yes, we can,” Mr. Obama said repeatedly during a quest for the presidency that lasted almost two years, through bruising Democratic party primaries, a costly war on two fronts, economic woes rivalling the Great Depression of the 1930s and partisan smears on his patriotism.

And in the end, despite lingering questions about his scant experience, especially on the world stage, he did in fact win, defeating Republican John McCain in an election heralding a very special — and perhaps redefining — moment in America’s life.

In the State-by-State contest that, under the U.S. Constitution, determines the presidency, Mr. Obama needed only 270 votes to win. He sailed to victory with 364 to Mr. McCain’s 174. Voter turnout has shattered records.

Television networks declared Mr. Obama the winner at about 10 p.m. (local time) as polls closed on the vote-rich West Coast, where he was heavily favoured, after he steadily moved toward the threshold needed to win and to become the first African-American President in U.S. history. A huge crowd in Grant Park erupted in jubilation. Some wept.

Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, he appeared before the crowd shortly after midnight. Set to become the 44th President of the U.S., Mr. Obama said the challenges his administration would face were “the greatest of a lifetime.” But he declared that “change has come to America” and urged his supporters to join him in “remaking America.” They responded by chanting his signature slogan: “Yes, we can.”

Mr. Obama’s victory marked the rise of a new generation of American leadership, after 16 years of Presidents who came of age during the Vietnam War era. Mr. Obama. 47, was still a child when most of the U.S. troops came home.

It was also the Americans’ final, symbolic rejection of George Bush’s presidency. Mr. Bush’s popularity soared after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, then collapsed with his administration’s bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, and to the regulatory lapses that many think led to the U.S. financial crisis.

The race was the longest, most expensive and most riveting in memory. Both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain had been on the campaign train for almost two years.

In a gruelling primary battle, he managed to raise more money and outmanoeuvre the front-runner, the former first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. After Mr. Obama’s victory, she called and pledged her support. Americans, she said, “voted for change, and refused to be invisible any longer.”

In his race, Mr. Obama was steady and focussed on the economy — the voters’ biggest concern — and linking Mr. McCain to Mr. Bush.

Mr. McCain had an uphill fight. He tried without success to portray Mr. Obama as too radical and inexperienced, casting him as an advocate of high taxes and socialism. Mr. McCain also tried to shake up the race by naming Alaska’s young conservative Governor, Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential running mate. The choice energised much of the Republican base, but her lack of experience and poor performance in interviews worried many voters.

Preparations for an Obama presidency were already under way on Wednesday. With just 76 days until the inauguration, Mr. Obama is expected to move quickly to begin assembling a White House staff and selecting Cabinet nominees.