Barack Obama Elected President of the United States

After an intense election and a brilliant campaign executed by his camp, Barack ObamaBarack Obama has made history. Regardless of race, it is thrilling to watch Illinois Senator Barack Obama become the first African-American and 44th president of the United States. Joe BidenJoe Biden will be the next Vice-President. And regardless of political affiliation, we will all remember Obama's beautifully delivered, moving, inspiring/hopeful, uniting ('Yes, we can') yet serious and realistic acceptance speech ('The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep').

Obama secured 364 electoral votes which is well over the 270 required to win. John McCainJohn McCain received 173 electoral votes and made a gracious concession speech and vowed to work with Obama. Obama also won the popular vote by over 4 million votes with the majority of the national precincts reporting. This is the largest majority win (with more than 50% of the vote) for a Democratic president since Lyndon JohnsonLyndon Johnson.

Obama is inheriting enormous and complicated problems (the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, environment, etc.). This is a tremendous challenge for any president but maybe even more for him since the expectations are so high. It is also going to be difficult for him to fulfill his promise of a new era of bi-partisanship given how Washington continues to function.

However, Obama has the ability to mobilize, energize and transform the country in this time of crisis by leading us in a new strategic direction. He has an amazing grassroots capacity, and with his extraordinary qualities (his maturity, intelligence, the judicious quality of his decision making and his steady temperament) there is hope conditions will improve in this country and our image of a respected nation will be restored around the world.

States Obama Won:

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois (Obama's home state), Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii

States McCain Won:

South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Alaska