The 2008 Election: Yes We Did! (By a Landslide)

Yes We Can! has given way to Yes We Did! Barack Obama has become the 44th President of the United States of America, and the first Black President after 400 years of waiting since slaves were first brought to the New World after 1607. History was going to be made tonight, regardless of which candidate won. Either Obama would become the first Black President of a majority white country and Delaware would have the highest ranking politician in its history or a female would be elected to the Vice Presidency for the first time along with the oldest Presidential candidate.

Obama gives Presidential acceptance speech before 150,000 at Chicago's Grant Park Tuesday night

ELECTORAL COLLEGE BREAKDOWN:
Obama won the crucial states of Ohio (20), Florida (27), Pennsylvania (21), Virginia (13), which accounted for exactly 30% of the required 270 out of the total 538 electoral votes needed to claim the Presidency. Obama also added crucial states of New York (31), Michigan (17), Illinois (21), Indiana (11), Minnesota (10), Iowa (7), Nevada (5) which Gore and Kerry lost, Colorado (9), Wisconsin (10), New Mexico (5), Oregon (7), the entire New England region (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), Maryland (10), and District of Columbia (3). On the other side, John McCain won crucial states of Texas (34), Georgia (15), most of the South, Northwestern--including Montana (3)--and Southwestern states. At 11:00pm, NBC called the race for Barack Obama leading 284-146 electoral votes following the closing of polls in California (55), Hawaii (4) and Washington (11) in the far West. Fox News, CBS News, and other networks followed soon after. The AP reported at 11:11pm, that John McCain called Barack Obama to concede the election and congratulate him on finishing the race. Google Maps 2008 Electoral Vote Map represents the most recent information below.


Obama's convincing win gave him the mandate to govern in a way that breaks all traditional political paradigms. Whether he is now successful depends on whether the goodwill engendered by the scope of Obama's win, and the people he surrounds himself with lend themselves to implementing his policies and solving the problems which have escaped Washington insiders for generations. In that regard, ranking House member, Rahm Emmanuel as DCCC Chair and Democratic Caucus Chair enjoys respect and a good reputation in Washington, and seems to be a natural at helping build the Obama White House as Obama's proposed Chief of Staff, a position he was offered today. In the final analysis, Obama won the electoral vote by landslide (349-163) with 26 electoral votes outstanding as of Wednesday. The states of Missouri (11) and North Carolina (15) were too close to call as of Wednesday morning, so we'll probably have to wait a day or two for the final electoral college tally.

First Family-to-Be: Barack Obama, Sasha, Malia & Michelle

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Yes, this election of 2008 was truly historic for it's social, political, and global significance. Forty years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech made in Washington, DC in 1963, the first President with African blood was elected by a landslide in the electoral college. There have been certain inventions and events which throughout history which have changed the world forever. These include the invention of the wheel (3500 BC) as a means of transportation, the printing press (1440 BC) which allowed the poor access to good books and the Bible, the invention of the light bulb by Thomas A. Edison & Lewis H. Latimer (1879), the automobile (1885), the airplane (1903), television (TV-1930's), Jesse Owens' Olympic gold medals at Munich in 1936 which proved to Hitler that Blacks were not inferior humans as he believed, the dropping of the atomic bomb to end World War II in 1945, Dr. King winning the Nobel Peace Prize (1964), man landing on the moon during the JFK years (1969), the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, certainly the cell phone/PDA (1978/1993), and the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 with the resulting presidency of Nelson Mandela.

Obama's historic triumph is no less significant because Africans were once considered three-fifths (3/5) of a man and denied citizenship by the framers of the Constitution who were mostly slave owners, were once considered "separate but equal" without enjoying said equality, and now Obama has now become "The Man". Even after another famous Illinoisian, Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which freed all African slaves, many Americans never dreamed that we would ever see a Black President in our lifetimes, not even after Jesse Jackson's historic but unsuccessful Presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988, though Obama could not have been successful without Jesse Jackson's example.

The new First Team: Barack & Michelle Obama with Joe & Jill Biden

GROUNDBREAKING GRASS-ROOTS CAMPAIGN:
I'm so proud to have played a small part in one of the most successful grass-roots campaigns in U.S. history supported from the bottom-up by community organizers and activists. While McCain volunteers were out at the polling stations waving banners and yard signs, the Obama campaign was busy knocking on doors of supporters to make sure they voted and picking up the elderly and those who did not have transportation to vote. I could not possibly do justice to the telling of how the Obama for America campaign's field operations was simply brilliant as could Rolling Stone magazine in "The Machinery of Hope". However, you can read my recent blog post recounting my Election Day volunteer efforts at "A Day in the Life of an Obama Campaign Volunteer".

Obama phonebanking Tuesday in Indianapolis, IN

THE BIG PICTURE:
So as I asked in a previous blog post, "Are We Ready for a Black President (Or Just Another Rich White One?)" what does a historic Obama win mean for Blacks as well as the rest of us? Does this mean racism is over? Does it mean that affirmative action is no longer needed? Is this election the magic pill that erases the cycle of poverty in the ghettos, inner city, and rural America? Does it reverse pay discrimination for women? Does his win reverse the institutionalized racism in the criminal justice system which incarcerates a higher percentage of Black males than any other cultural segment of our population? The answer of course is, "NO." However, having a Black President is certainly a good way to start the national dialogue on the importance of diversity in our society.

New York Times Cover, Wednesday, 11/5/08

OUTTAKES FROM THE 2008 ELECTION:
Barack Obama not only won a convincing landslide victory in the electoral college as a reflection of the popular vote, but he also made several other achievements along the way:

Obama won majorities among African Americans (96%), Jews (77%), gays and lesbians (71%), first-time voters (68%), Latinos (67%), Asians (63%), voters under 30 (66%), union members (59%) and women (55%), along with independent voters, all numbers which are the largest since Lyndon Johnson, thus consolidating the various bases of the Democratic party into a potent electoral coalition. Further, Obama won key battleground states by taking 10% of Republicans, 20% of conservatives, and 33% of evangelical Christians.
Perfected Howard Dean's 50-state grass roots and online fundraising strategies to turn out African-American, youth, Latino, and women voters in record numbers and flush his campaign with millions of small donations.
As a result of the above, Obama was able to break the grip of lobbyists and independent special interest groups on the DNC by barring the DNC from accepting lobbyist and PAC funds.
Realized record fundraising in the most expensive election cycle in history by breaking modern campaign finance records, rendering the public financing system obsolete.
Saw the largest crowds to ever attend political events.
Obama's electoral coat tails were powerful, moving the Democratic Party to 57 U.S. Senate seats versus 40 seats for the Republican Party as of Wednesday evening. There are still 3 Senate races outstanding which may be recounted or run-off. As well, Democrats in the House of Representatives held on to all their seats and swept the 6-state New England region.
Finally Democrats won 7 of 11 gubernatorial races this election cycle.
Remember when George W. Bush won the 2004 election, then claimed "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it."? Obama claimed a higher percentage of the popular vote and a higher number of electoral votes than did George Bush.
Over 71 million people watched the 2008 Election live TV coverage with ABC leading with 13.1 million viewers and NBC next closest with 12 million viewers.
Even Fox News had to admit, this was the best and most disciplined campaign in history.
Over 133 million people voted marking the largest turnout in history with 62% of eligible voters participating in the process.
Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, not known for public displays of emotion was reportedly moved by the historical significance of this election as was General Colin Powell.
Like Senator Hillary Clinton before him, Senator John McCain showed exceptional gracefulness in his concession speech and thoughtfulness, which if these qualities had been more apparent in his campaign, he may have fared better.
From Obama's Presidential Acceptance speech at Chicago's Grant Park: "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."

Obama supporters celebrate victory in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois

CHALLENGES FOR THE NEW PRESIDENT:
On January 20, 2009, Obama will assume leadership of a domestic situation that would prove daunting to many. The U.S. economy is in a recession, we have seen record unemployment in 2008, a military stretched thin by unnecessary wars in multiple theatres and longer consecutive tours of duty, and a country weary of the partisan name calling (leftist, socialist, communist or unpatriotic, "real American") and "politics of division" that has been largely the way that both sides have fought especially over the last 16 years since the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

American Soldiers in Afghanistan watch the election

OUR DUTY AS AMERICANS & CITIZENS OF THE WORLD:
At no time in our history is it more crucial to restore our standing in the world. We have been led astray by the hawks and neo-conservative (neo-con) wing of the Republican Party who ascribe to the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war and democracy spread by the bullet rather than by diplomacy. Symptoms of this attitude include our leaders' refusal to prohibit torture, support of tyrants who oppress their people merely because they support our foreign policy, and a movement for immigration reform which seeks to deny asylum to those seeking a better life in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We must show the world the same compassion expressed by the Statue of Liberty on whose base is inscribed the following words from The New Colossus: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Citizens of Obama, Japan have been following Senator Obama's Presidential campaign