CAIRO: Forty years after the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King and 45 years after his stirring “I have a dream speech, the United States elected the first African-American president in its history.
Barack Hussein Obama, with a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, comprehensively defeated his Republican rival John McCain in the number of electoral votes garnered, 349 to his opponent’s 147.
The popular vote was much closer with Obama coming out on top by five points, 52.3 percent to 46.4 percent. He is the first Democratic candidate to secure more than 50 percent of the popular vote in 32 years.
On election day the race played out just as earlier polls had predicted.
Obama’s victory in Pennsylvania was the first nail in the McCain campaign coffin, but the writing on the wall came early for the Republican candidate after he lost the seminal Ohio vote to his democratic adversary.
No Republican candidate has secured the presidency without Ohio since Abraham Lincoln.
The clincher was Virginia which, staunchly Republican for 44 years, also fell to Obama. After that, there was no way back for McCain.
McCain conceded defeat to Obama with a gracious and dignified speech to his supporters in Arizona where he urged them to stand behind the new president-elect.
“Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country . And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face, he said.
“I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited, McCain said.
“Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that, he added.
A short while later Obama appeared before a crowd of over 200,000, including a tearful Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey, in Chicago’s Grant Park.
In his moving acceptance speech, Obama acknowledged the historical moment but warned of tough times ahead.
“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, he began.
“For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century, Obama said.
The president-elect also had a message to people beyond American borders.
“And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
He continued, “To those – to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you.
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 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.
Yet while Obama’s election victory undoubtedly signified a change in the face of American politics, it was telling that he did worse in the south than his three Democratic predecessors, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry.
However, it was a good day for the Democratic Party in general, as it bolstered its presence in both houses, though it fell short of the desired super-majority in the Senate.
The Arabic media responded to Obama’s victory with elation, pushing the hyperbole to unprecedented levels over the fact that a man with a father who had an Arabic name would now lead the world’s sole superpower.
US Ambassador to Egypt, Margaret Scobey, told reporters after the results came out that she was looking forward to Obama’s inauguration to see what his positions will be regarding the Middle East.
“Throughout his campaign – both candidates frankly – have made clear their support for peace. In fact he [Obama] just mentioned [that]; he didn’t mention any country specifically but he said look, America will always be there in support of those people who are in search of peace and stability in their countries.
Asked whether Obama will change America’s image in the world Scobey replied, “That I think will be for the world to decide. Americans are proud of this election, Americans from every aspect of American life came out to vote, and color was not an obstacle. And I think that is a very amazing message for us.
Obama alongside his vice-president Joe Biden will assume office Jan. 20, 2009. For African-Americans more than anyone else the excerpt of an old spiritual song King used to conclude his speech will resonate now as much as it did on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.
