Obama Elected President

Capping an epic presidential campaign that began on the steps of the Illinois State House more than a year ago, Democratic freshman Sen. Barack Obama made history on Tuesday by becoming the first African-American to win election to the White House.The 47-year-old Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his victory by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states – Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa.

A huge crowd thronged Grant Park in Chicago to cheer Obama’s improbable triumph and await his first public speech as president-elect.

Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009.

As the 44th president, Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession, and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.

The popular vote was close, but not the count in the Electoral College, where it counted.

There, Obama’s audacious decision to contest McCain in states that hadn’t gone Democratic in years paid rich dividends.

Fellow Democrats rode his coattails to gains in both houses of Congress, toppling Republican incumbents and winning open seats alike.

Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months.

A record number of citizens were expected to have cast ballots in an election that stood to change the political face of a nation burdened with its worst economic crisis in nearly 80 years and still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The economy was by far the top issue on voters’ minds and a huge drag on McCain, who Obama successfully tied to unpopular President George W. Bush.

Six in 10 voters picked the economy as the most important issue facing the nation, overwhelming other problems named. Obama was doing strongly with this group — six in 10 of those naming the economy were backing the Democrat. Of the other issues listed in the survey – Iraq, energy, terrorism and health care – were all picked by one in 10 or less.

Further underlining voters’ preoccupation with the economy, nine in 10 said it is in bad shape and about the same number said they are worried about the economy’s direction. Nearly six in 10 of both those groups were backing Obama.

Obama polled well among women, blacks and young voters while Sen. John McCain did better among whites and older voters, according to exit poll results reported by The Associated Press.

Obama won more than half the votes of women, a huge majority of the black vote and about 65 percent of ballots cast by those under 30 years old, the poll found. Obama also garnered a slight edge among male voters.

McCain won a slight majority of the white vote, according to The Associated Press poll results. He also held a slight edge among senior citizens, the poll found.

Whatever their political leaning, Americans went to the polls with the nation’s shaky economy on their minds.

More than 60 percent of voters say the economy is their top issue, according to a nationwide exit poll.

Troubling economic news — foreclosures, sagging home values, layoffs and tight credit — far outpaced other concerns as the lead issue on voters’ minds, the exit polling found. The economy was the top issue for 62 percent of exit poll respondents.

A vast majority of voters polled were sour on the economy. More than 90 percent said the economy is in bad shape, according to exit polling data reported by CNN. Forty percent said their family’s financial status had worsened in the past four years.

Chicago authorities said earlier this week they were bracing for as many as a million people for a possible Obama victory celebration.