Obama: Change has come to America
(Video) Shortly after sealing his hold on White House, US president-elect attends massive victory rally in Chicago, tells crowd, 'If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, tonight is your answer'
VIDEO - Democrat Barack Obama wrote his name indelibly into the pages of American history Tuesday, engineering a social and political upheaval to become the country's first black president-elect in a runaway victory over Republican John McCain.
Less than an hour after sealing his hold on the White House, Obama and his wife, Michelle, stepped onto the stage holding the hands of their two daughters at a massive victory rally in Chicago's Grant Park.
"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," the new president said.
"It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
"We are, and always will be, the United States of America. It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America."
Obama spoke warmly of McCain, the 72-year-old Arizona senator who was his rival in the longest and most costly presidential campaign in American history.
After McCain called Obama to concede victory, he spoke graciously of Obama at an outdoor rally in Arizona, commending the president-elect on his victory and emphasizing that he understood its special importance to African-Americans.
"The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly," McCain told disappointed supporters in Arizona, many who booed and growled as he called for the nation to unify behind the victor and his running mate, Joe Biden.
Obama, a 47-year-old Illinois senator and son of a white mother from Kansas and an African father from Kenya, mined a deep vein of national discontent, promising Americans hope and change throughout a nearly flawless 21-month campaign for the White House.
'The dream of our founders is alive' (Photo: Reuters)
Obama stepped through a door opened 145 years ago when Abraham Lincoln, a fellow Illinois politician, issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed African-Americans from enslavement in the rebellious South in the midst of a wrenching civil war.
The powerful orator lays claim to the White House on Jan. 20, only 43 years after the country enacted a law that banned the disenfranchisement of blacks in many Southern states where poll taxes and literacy tests were common at the time.
Cautioning Americans that the nation's problems were manifest, Obama said: "The road ahead will be long. 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."
Democratic primary rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton promised Obama her full support and congratulated Americans for making him the 44th US president.
"In quiet, solitary acts of citizenship, American voters gave voice to their hopes and their values, voted for change, and refused to be invisible any longer," she said in a statement.
With victories in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and other battleground states, Obama built a commanding lead over McCain after surging in the polls in the midst of a national financial crisis. He and his fellow Democrats sought to link McCain to the unpopular George W. Bush.
Enduring power of ideals
Obama soared into the national spotlight with his electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when he was making his first run for the Senate and polishing his message of unity in a country that was mired in partisan anger.
Democrats also were expanding their majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Cheering, screaming and waving flags, an estimated 50,000-plus Obama supporters welcomed his election in a delirious victory celebration in the senator's hometown.
They crammed into Grant Park to be a part of something that would be remembered for generations.
The downtown Chicago park, where police fought anti-war protesters during the turbulent 1968 Democratic convention, was transformed on an unseasonably balmy night by white tents and a stage lined with American flags and hung with red, white and blue bunting.
Lighted windows in the skyscrapers lining the park added to the festive atmosphere, spelling out "USA" and "Vote 2008."
Watching the results on a jumbo TV screen, the crowd erupted in cheers each time Obama put yet another state in his victory column.
The assembled backers were treated to one of Obama's most uplifting speeches.
"To those who would tear this world down we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you," he said. "And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."
