Barack Obama Becomes the First African-American President

The verdict is out. America is ready for her first ever African-American President – Barack Obama. Obama won the American presidential elections on Tuesday night as he clinched a whooping 52% of the electoral votes. The results were declared at 11pm Eastern Time(ET) and America rejoiced the beginning of a new era. Barack Obama won 58,886,128 votes and left behind Senator John McCain who managed to win 53,105,789 votes. Barack Obama became the 44th American President as he led his party to victory in the House and the Senate.

"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", said Senator Barack Obama as he addressed a rally in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, after winning the race for the White House. His wife Michelle and his two daughters accompanied him on the podium at Chicago. Obama’s chief spokesman Robert Gibbs confirmed that McCain called Obama at 11 pm ET to congratulate him on his victory. According to the White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, Mr.Bush congratulated Obama, promised a transition of power on 20th January 2009. Bush told Obama that he was about to begin one of the great journeys of his life, and invited him to visit the White House.

Barack Obama, 47, first-term senator from Illinois, came through as a strong candidate after his win in Iowa and after his victory over the strong Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Analysts believe that Obama’s strong campaign, including his impressive performance in the three debates were instrumental in this historic win. Obama was also the first presidential candidate to opt out of public financing and pay for his campaign with donations instead of government money.

The celebrations of Obama’s victory are not only limited to the United States of America. The global media hailed Obama’s inspiring victory and cited it as a positive change that will ameliorate the dynamics of foreign relations. Celebrations were in full swing at Obama's ancestral home in Kenya. In Jakarta, Indonesia, where Obama lived with his parents in the late 1960s, hundreds of students at his old elementary school rejoiced his victory. The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown quoted that he was excited about the prospect of working with the new U.S. president. The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also congratulated Obama on his inspiring victory and said that he was looking forward to work towards enhancing the potential for cooperation that exists between India and the United States. The choice of Barack Obama for U.S. president is being cited as a positive development by the Middle East as well. The Afghan president quoted, "the Americans have taken themselves and the rest of the world into a new era, where race, color, ethnicity will also disappear as a factor in politics in the rest of the world".