After two terms of President George W. Bush (8 years), it is Senator Barack Obama, 47 years old, who has been elected to lead the White House after securing 349 [[Provisional figure]] electoral votes, compared to 159 for John McCain.
Even though not all the ballots had been counted at the time of the official announcement, an incredible joy spread across the entire country, including in Chicago, where the Democratic candidate delivered a victory speech before more than 200,000 people. With 349 electoral votes currently in his possession (more than 270 were needed to win) and a majority of seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Barack Obama achieved an absolute victory. His rival, John McCain, conceded defeat, praised the Democratic candidate, and acknowledged the historic nature of this election.
Historical
The word is on everyone’s lips and headlines in all the media. Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama is the first Black American president. Of Kenyan origin, the new president of the United States embodied change during his campaign. He was neither black nor white. Above all, he was American and sought to represent the change in America. But 45 years after Martin Luther King, the United States asserts to the world its commitment to progress. The new American president has at least four years to show his vision of change to his voters and the world.
The world salutes Barack Obama’s victory
While Kenya, the birthplace of Barack Hussein Obama’s father, declared a public holiday to celebrate the event, countries worldwide are receiving this result with much optimism. International leaders have praised the “change” and “hope,” symbols of the Democratic candidate’s campaign.
Nicolas Sarkozy, on his part, highlighted Mr. Obama’s “brilliant victory” and in a letter to the newly elected president, extended his “warmest congratulations.” “By choosing you, it’s the choice of change, openness, and optimism that the American people have made,” he wrote.
One of the absentees from this celebration is Russia, which is waiting today for a speech from its president, Dmitry Medvedev, to comment on this news.
