Obama’s historic victory

last updated 8 January 2015

What happened

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois carved out a new political landscape this week as he became the first African-American to be elected president, defeating Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, 52 percent to 46 percent. In turning several “red” states “blue,” Obama won at least 349 Electoral College votes (North Carolina remained contested) to McCain’s 173 and racked up the largest margin of victory for a Democrat since 1964. His candidacy generated enormous enthusiasm among young people and black Americans, and 64 percent of all eligible voters went to the polls—the highest turnout in generations. “It’s been a long time coming,” Obama said in a restrained, at times somber, victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

In addition to winning all the blue states that voted for Democrats in 2000 and 2004, Obama won in Florida, which had gone Republican in 2000 and 2004, and became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in Virginia and Indiana since 1964. In the West, he won convincing victories in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. Amid record voter turnout, African-Americans increased their percentage of the electorate from 11 percent to 13 percent, supporting Obama in unprecedented numbers. Exit polls revealed that 85 percent of voters were “worried” about the economy. Obama, 47, won Hispanics by 2-to-1 and voters between the ages of 18 and 29 by a more than 2-to-1 margin, laying a cornerstone of his party’s future.

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Obama’s victory is “momentous for the generational change it heralds, the geographic realignment it reflects, and the racial progress it both acknowledges and promises,” said The Washington Post. The excitement he generated will be needed, as the new president seeks to restore confidence in government and in America. “His combination of intelligence and eloquence, along with his evident instincts for consensus, offers hope that he can provide the leadership the nation so badly needs.”

“By radiating hope and resonating competence,” Obama “shattered” the status quo, said the San Francisco Chronicle. In his groundbreaking campaign, “Obama identified and reinvigorated a sense of American idealism” that in recent years had been buried beneath polarizing “ideological divisions.” As president, Obama will soon face daunting problems. But with people around the globe heartened by his historic achievement, he also has the opportunity to “restore the image of the United States throughout the world.”

Obama’s success was a function of his “rhetorical skills and unique appeal,” said The Wall Street Journal. But it’s also “a tribute to American opportunity.” Now Obama must make sure opportunity remains at the core of the American ideal. If he and his Democratic allies “interpret this victory as a mandate for renewed liberal government,” they will be making a mistake. “We’ll soon see if liberals have learned to govern.”

Obama’s victory is not so much an endorsement of his vague policy proposals as it is a repudiation of Republican rule, said Rod Dreher in NPR.org. After the incompetence of President Bush and incoherence of McCain and Palin, we Republicans “got the thumping we deserve.” As for Obama, he ran on a promise of tax cuts and competence, which is hardly revolutionary. Still, you have to credit him with a “brilliant, audacious, and wonderfully surprising campaign,” said Michael Novak in National Review Online. I dread his liberal appointments to the Supreme Court, as well as his support for abortion. But there will be time enough to revisit these doubts after he is sworn in. For now, “he is president-elect of all of us.”

This election marks a tectonic change in the political landscape, said E.J. Dionne in The New Republic Online. Since Richard Nixon, Republicans have claimed to speak for “the silent majority.” Obama now speaks for a new majority, made up of people under 35 and suburban and exurban voters who want pragmatic leaders who’ll solve problems, not engage in “angry quarrels about gay marriage, abortion, and religious orthodoxy.”

In his gracious concession speech, John McCain reminded people why he was once so widely liked and admired, said Walter Shapiro in Salon.com. “The harsh tenor of the closing weeks of the campaign was gone,” as McCain expressed hope that the nation “would find ways to come together to bridge our differences.” Sadly, McCain spent the last month crying “socialism” and trying to tie Obama to 1960s radical Bill Ayers. This time, however, American voters were not distracted by such “Swift Boating.” They had a rendezvous with destiny.

“I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t believe it would happen,” said Cynthia Tucker in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I’ve witnessed the “plodding course toward racial equality” for decades. And there was simply no reason to believe my country would elect a black president any time soon. By so doing, Americans have finally ended our Civil War, said Thomas L. Friedman in The New York Times. That war “could never truly be said to have ended until America’s white majority actually elected an African-American as president.” On Wednesday, we all awoke “to a different country.” From this day forward, for every child, “everything really is possible in America.”

Obama’s presidential transition has been under way for months, and he hopes to assemble a Cabinet quickly, according to aides. Obama offered little partisan red meat after his resounding victory, and other Democrats seemed to follow his lead. “This is a mandate to get along, to get something done in a bipartisan way,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “This is not a mandate for a political party or an ideology.”