Change has come to America

America has put its sorry history of slavery and civil rights abuses behind it with the election of Barack Obama as its first black president.

After the loss of the swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, followed by staunchly Republican Virginia, it was all over for John McCain. In a gracious, generous speech in Phoenix, in his home state of Arizona, he conceded just over five hours after the first polls closed.

President-elect Obama appeared before a crowd of more than 100,000 in downtown Chicago to claim victory.

If anyone doubted America was a place where anything was possible, or the power of its democracy, "tonight is your answer", he said. "Because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."

He stressed the United States' ties with the rest of the world. "And to all of 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.

"A new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear the world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you." It was not wealth or weapons that would overcome but "the enduring power of our ideals".

Across this nation of 300 million, the world's richest and most powerful people took to the streets, tooting horns and embracing strangers. Tens of thousands thronged Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House in Washington DC at 1am.

Black lawyer Edmund Taliaferro stood smiling sweetly in a packed Hilton Hotel ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio, as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I just didn't believe that a black man could be elected," the 60-year-old told The Dominion Post.

His grandfather was the son of a plantation owner and a slave and he himself was active in the civil rights movement.

Around him the whooping crowd chanted the campaign signature - Yes We Can. Young Democrats national president Thione Niang told how he arrived from Senegal in west Africa eight years ago with just $20, no family and no English.

"When you hope, you can bring change. We can change this country and we can change this world." But for now, he said, "We will party all night."

"Democrats are so used to losing, I don't think I'll believe it until he is sworn in," Democrat delegate and fundraiser Subodh Chandra said.

All the polls since the Lehman Brothers collapse and the meltdown of Wall Street in mid-September had Mr Obama in front and the mood was already sombre earlier in the night at the Republican party at Shooters nightclub on Cleveland's Cuyahoga River. "What can I do?" one woman resigned to a loss asked. "Everybody wants to be a part of history."

"It's not looking that great, but I believe in the power of prayer," said construction worker Jeff Ratkosky, wearing a cowboy hat with an American flag tucked in the hatband.

He and his wife, Anne, were indignant that their soldier son had not received a ballot paper and said a legal challenge to the voting had already been lodged.

But the victory is so emphatic it is unlikely to be in doubt in the way that George Bush's victory in 2000 was in Florida.

Mr Obama's victory speech was serious and measured, reflecting the formidable challenges he will face with war on two fronts, record debt and a collapsing economy.

He has pledged to withdraw from Iraq but is hawkish on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On the domestic front, the rich will be taxed more, though the everyman Joe the Plumbers earning less than $250,000 will not be affected and may well pay less tax - and medical benefits will be extended to the 47 million not currently covered.

Much of his programme will depend on the extent of Democrat control of Congress, with results in the Senate and House of Representatives still to be confirmed.

Mr Obama will not formally take office till January 20 but work on a smooth transition is already under way.

 

- © Fairfax NZ News