Obama Rides 'Change' Message To The Presidency
 

Barack Obama becomes the first African American to win the presidency, changing the political map in the process.

Barack Obama's victory tonight affirms a fundamental re-shaping of the electoral map that has dominated American politics for the better part of the last decade. The Illinois senator capitalized on a strong desire for a shakeup in the status quo and a deep dissatisfaction with the current president and direction of the country to score a historic win across the political landscape.

Obama's victory was both broad and deep; he won hotly contested states in every corner of the country from New Hampshire in the Northeast, and likely Virginia in the South to Ohio in the Midwest and New Mexico in the West.

The win also marked a re-ordering of the political map as Obama ran surprisingly well in a series of states -- Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana to name three -- long considered to be Republican strongholds at the presidential level.

In broadening the electoral map, Obama made good on a pledge from early in his campaign to break the traditional red state/blue state divide into which the country had been split since the closely contested presidential election of 2000.

Early indications were that the senator from Illinois would enjoy significantly larger margins in the House and Senate as well.

Senate Democrats picked up four seats early in the night -- North Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia and New Mexico -- and seemed likely to claim victories in Colorado and Oregon as well. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) narrowly held on in a tough race against Democrat Bruce Lunsford while appointed Sen. Roger Wicker (R) appeared likely to hold his seat in Mississippi. Those two Republicans wins are likely to keep Democrats from winning the 60 seats in the Senate that would allow them to break Republican filibusters.

On the House side, Florida was an early center of action with three incumbents -- two Republicans and one Democrat -- losing. The Democratic domination in the Northeast was furthered by Jim Himes' victory over Republican Rep. Chris Shays, and two easy open seat victories in New York.

But the story of the night was clearly Obama, the first African American nominee of either party and now the first black man to be elected president of the United States.

The keys to Obama's victory are myriad but two factors stand out: the remarkable unpopularity of President George W. Bush and the Democratic nominee's massive fundraising edge.

In the national exit poll, just 27 percent of those surveys approved of the job Bush had done as president while roughly three times that number disapproved.

While McCain did his best to separate himself from the tarnished Bush brand, exit polling in key states showed he had not done enough. In Pennsylvania, more than half of all voters said McCain would be a continuation of Bush policies and that bloc went for Obama by a 90 percent to 10 percent margin.

Obama's massive financial edge is the other critical factor that stands out when analyzing his victory. Obama opted out of the public financing system early in the summer and by September and October it was clear he had made the right political choice -- outspending McCain on television at a three- and four-to-one clip in key battleground states. Obama's financial edge also guaranteed him a large and effective ground operation, a turnout effort that proved crucial to his narrow margins in some of these swing states.

Much will be said and written of this race in the days, weeks, months and years to come. But, what is clear tonight is that the man and the moment have met. Barack Obama is the next president of the United States.


 

Source:Washington Post