Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 13 November 2008 — Page 3

The Muncie Times • November 13, 2008 • Page 3

Hail to the new chief as Obama juggernaut easily romps to victory

The future First Family of The United States Of America

By T.S. Kumbula In a stunning, convincing and landscapechanging election, Democrat Barack Hussein Obama made history Tuesday when he stomped Republican rival John Sidney McCain 111 to become the 44th president of the United States of America and the first African American ever elected to that position. President-elect Obama won 349 Electoral College votes to 163 for McCain, with one more Electoral College vote still to be allocated. In the popular vote, it was 64,975,682, about 53 percent, for Obama to 57,118,380, about 46 percent, for McCain. It was a convincing, clear-cut verdict demonstrating that Americans had elected the 47-year-old freshman U.S. senator from Illinois, over McCain, 72, a veteran U.S. senator from Arizona. After Obama’s election victory, McCain graciously conceded and promised to cooperate with the incoming president. It was an emotional election, with people around the world staying up to see the outcome and witness if the watershed election had resulted in the United

States electing its first black president. Two years ago, virtually nobody expected a skinny young man from Chicago, a freshman U.S. senator from Illinois, could prevail in the Democratic presidential primary contests against more experienced rivals, including Vice President-elect Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a former first lady and now a senator from New York. Yet, Obama built an impressive organization in the primary and caucus, shocking Clinton and her campaign, when he won the Iowa caucuses in January. Despite many setbacks and distrac-

tions, Obama remained focused, as he systematically knocked out his rivals. In the end, Clinton and Obama were left standing. Each one had won more than 18 million primary votes. But Obama also had a majority of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo. Clinton, eventually but graciously conceding, opening the road to a McCain versus Obama general election. Obama had selected Biden, a veteran an experienced foreign policy hand, long-time senator from the state of Delaware and former presidential candidate, as his running mate. In what some saw as an apparent to

change the game, McCain announced lit-tle-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running. Initially, McCain got high marks for what saw as a stunt. She was well received by the Republican base, which she motivated. This was, after all, the second time in 24 years that a major American political party had selected a woman as vice president. Apparently there had been little discussion or vetting of Palin by the McCain campaign. Her initial high positive ratings quickly plummeted as American voters found out more about her. While the campaign kept her virtually sequestered, except

when she appeared at mass rallies with McCain, the media dug into her background and her role as mayor of the tiny town of Wasila, Alaska, and as Alaska governor. What emerged was a less-than-flattering image. By the end of the campaign, the new Republican star had become a definite drag on the McCain campaign. In his globally televised speech (see the entire text of the speech in this newspaper), the presidentelect said he wants to be the president of all Americans, regardless of ideology or political affiliation. It was a sober and somber speech, Obama appealed for a united country, without blue or red states. “Because of what we did on this day, in this election, in this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama told more than 125,000 supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate his victory. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of continued on page 4