Barack Obama has promised that "change is coming" in America after he beat John McCain in a historic victory to become the country's first black president.
Analysts suggested a shift in the composition of the US electorate and voters' fears about the economic crisis significantly contributed to Mr Obama's triumph. Exit polls indicated that Mr Obama won the approval of 95 per cent of black voters and more than two-thirds of Hispanics, with both groups voting in increased numbers. Black voters made up 13 per cent of the electorate compared to 11 per cent four years ago.
Americans placed their faith in Barack Obama today, turning their backs on a past of slavery and segregation and electing the first African-American to the US presidency.
Democrat Barack Obama captured the White House yesterday after an extraordinary two-year campaign, defeating Republican John McCain to make history as the first black to be elected US president.
The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in US history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.
BARACK OBAMA has swept to a landslide victory as the first black president of the United States, defeating John McCain after the longest and most expensive campaign in the country’s history.
Americans are only gradually realizing what the historic victory of Barack Obama means -- not just for the political community at large, but also for each individual life. This country, which faces gigantic problems ahead, is pinning its hopes on a renewed belief in itself.
Americans are only gradually realizing what the historic victory of Barack Obama means -- not just for the political community at large, but also for each individual life. This country, which faces gigantic problems ahead, is pinning its hopes on a renewed belief in itself.
PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama will move quickly to put his stamp on a new administration, announcing over the next few days key White House posts as well as leading cabinet positions after he declared "a new dawn of American leadership".
The 47-year-old freshman senator from Illinois won a landslide victory yesterday to become the first black president of the US, but faces a daunting series of national security and economic challenges, with nearly half the country still sceptical about his rise to the most powerful position on the planet.
His storied election behind him and weighty problems in his face, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to the task of building an administration in times of crisis as Americans and the world absorbed his history-shattering achievement as the first black leader ascending to the presidency.
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.
