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Obama withdrawal

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Obama: 'Change has come to America'

Thank you America! and Thank You Barack Obama! It was an electoral walk-off grand slam!

Barack Obama makes U.S. history


BY BETH REINHARD
breinhard@MiamiHerald.com
Barack Obama will stride into the White House and the history books as the nation's first black president, riding a surge in Democratic voter registration, a tide of discontent with the Republican Party and a hard-fought triumph in Florida.

''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 our democracy, tonight is your answer,'' declared the 47-year-old Illinois senator to an emotional crowd estimated at 150,000 in Grant Park in Chicago. ``Tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.''

Republican John McCain offered a gracious concession speech that recognized Obama's barrier-breaking achievement for African-Americans. He urged the country to unite.

''We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation's reputation,'' McCain, 72, an Arizona senator and Vietnam War hero, told a disappointed throng outside a Phoenix hotel. ``We fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.''

Obama sealed his victory with a daunting, 182-vote lead in the Electoral College, with five states still outstanding. The popular vote was less one-sided, with Obama winning 51 to 47 percent.

He reshaped American politics, burning through more money and shoe leather than any other presidential candidate in history.

By racking up victories Tuesday in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, Obama could have won the presidency without Florida's treasure trove of 27 electoral votes. But Democrats nationwide savored his victory in a state that has tormented them since the contested 2000 election.

VOTERS WERE FED UP

At a time of war and economic crisis, voters across the country fed up with the Republican administration gravitated toward the younger, more charismatic candidate who rooted his campaign in themes of hope and change. McCain, who had crossed his own party on some major issues, also tried to position himself as an agent of change.

But Obama and running mate Joe Biden relentlessly yoked McCain to the widely unpopular President Bush and the past eight years. In one television spot that ran in Florida and other states, the Democratic campaign portrayed both Republicans in a car's rearview mirror.

In the end, an increasingly diverse and Democratic electorate helped Obama persevere in a state that has chosen the Democratic nominee only three times since 1952. The so-called southern strategy that buttressed Republican candidates by exploiting racial divisions fell apart, as Obama carried Florida and Virginia, which last voted Democratic in 1964.

''I've always contended the so-called red states are not as red as people think,'' said Matt Towery, a pollster with Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage. ``You cannot have such a shift in demography and not see it show up at the polls.''

Obama captured several states with large Hispanic populations, including Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida. The number of Hispanic Democrats in Florida recently surpassed Hispanic Republicans, as waves of Latin American immigrants and younger generations of Cuban-Americans have diluted the influence of the staunchly Republican Cuban exile community.

Obama started a movement as much as he launched a campaign, inspiring hundreds of thousands of young people and blacks to vote, volunteer and give money for the first time. State Sen. Frederica Wilson, who campaigned on Obama's behalf in Miami-Dade's black community, said she knew he would be president back in early January when he won the overwhelmingly white Iowa primary.

''I just marvel at America and how it has evolved and changed,'' said Wilson, who grew up during the civil rights movement. ``He went much further than they could have ever predicted that a black man would travel in America, and the world is watching.''

For Florida Democrats, who have tolerated a Republican-controlled state government since the late 1990s and relished few statewide victories since then, Obama's victory signaled a new day. The Democratic nominee didn't just invest in a rusty political infrastructure; he built a new one from the ground up.

''It's pretty clear that Obama's efforts to connect with infrequent voters and new voters is going to pay real dividends for the Democratic Party,'' said Robin Rorapaugh, a Democratic strategist based in Hollywood. ``Even local candidates who win today have to tip their hats to the amount of resources Obama put on the ground and on the air.''

Obama will take office at a time of dire economic circumstances and unfinished wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He pledged to cut taxes on the middle class and bring troops home.

The Democrat weathered attacks for his ties to a violent Vietnam War protester and the racially inflammatory pastor he later broke from. He also was assailed for his willingness to meet with hostile government leaders in Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.

FLORIDA STAYED CLOSE

Nationwide polls had braced McCain supporters for defeat, but in Florida, the race was too close to call until the last day. The state's Jan. 29 primary had figured prominently in McCain's comeback during the primaries.

''What's impressed me the most is that even when he [McCain] was short on money, he kept on going, kept on campaigning,'' said Miami developer Armando Gutierrez Jr., a McCain fundraiser who started a voter registration web site. ''That earned him a lot of loyalty.'' The first sign that Obama was headed for victory came around 8 p.m., when one of the networks declared him the winner in Pennsylvania, the one state that voted Democratic in 2004 that McCain thought he had a chance of flipping. Virginia and Ohio followed as Obama built a commanding lead. Florida helped push him over the top.

The first campaign since 1952 without an incumbent president or vice president was filled with historic moments, many of them in Florida.

The state held its earliest presidential primary, triggering a firestorm in the Democratic Party that cost Florida Democrats their say and -- nearly -- their convention seats. Univisión held the first Democratic and Republican primary debates conducted by a Spanish-language television network. McCain won his first Republican-only primary in Florida, proving that he could be the GOP's standard bearer and paving his path to the nomination.

America's best-known Democratic power couple, Bill and Hillary Clinton, helped Obama win in Florida and nationwide after some initial tension between the ex-rivals. President Clinton appeared on stage with Obama just once, in Orlando.

A frenzy of Florida visits from high-level supporters like the Clintons and the nominees themselves capped the last few weeks of the longest campaign in American history.

The race was also the most expensive; Obama, the first candidate to forgo public financing, set aside $39 million for Florida, more than any other state.

The candidates drew the biggest crowds the nation and Florida have ever seen in a presidential campaign. Obama's appearances with the Clintons and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's debut at a Central Florida retirement community each drew tens of thousands of people.