Barack Obama, an African-American Senator from Illinois was elected the 44th president of the United States after defeating Senator John McCain in a spectacular victory of 364 to 174 electoral votes, heralding a redefining moment in American history. The results were a stunning triumph for a candidate who began the race as a relative newcomer to the national political stage, and ended as first African-American to enter the White House.
In a grueling primary battle, Obama managed to raise more money and adopted several winning strategies to forge ahead of the front runner Hillary Clinton. The primary win in the Iowa caucus was an early indication of the things to come. As Obama forged ahead in the party primaries winning states that were never considered a possibility, he became more confident and step-by-step planned his way to further successes.
In their historic act of electing an African-American for the US presidency with an emphatic six percentage point popular vote, American voters have demonstrated to the world at large, that they have permanently put aside the shameful legacy of racism.
The electoral verdict was also a rejection of George Bush’s tenure in office marked by two disastrous wars and a large-scale financial crisis. Obama’s political genius lay in his seizing these opportunities, making the right political moves at the right time and building the most resourceful and Internet-enabled campaign. A new generation of young American voters thirsting for a political change powered Obama’s victory, heeding to his rhetoric “Yes, we can change”
This new generation of voters enabled the Democratic candidate to overcome the age-old divide between the red and blue states. Obama retained his hold on all the traditional Democratic territories won by his party in 2000 and 2004, captured decisively most of the swing states and above all, wrested six traditional red states from the Republicans.
With such large-scale country-wide support, the President-elect has the mandate to implement his campaign promise of a radical change in the US domestic and foreign policies. But in this hour of triumph, the fact that the first African-American family is going to occupy the White House overrides every other concern. For a community, that for centuries endured the oppression and brutalities for having a different skin color, it is their proudest moment in history.
