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WASHINGTON (AP) – Barack Obama was elected the nation's first black president Tuesday night in a historic triumph that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself.The 47-year-old Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his victory by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hardfought battleground states — Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa. A huge crowd thronged Grant Park in Chicago to cheer his improbable triumph and await his first public speech as president-elect.
Barack Obama seized command of the race for the White House Tuesday night, defeating John McCain in Ohio and Iowa and building a near insurmountable Electoral College advantage in his historic bid to become the first black president. Fellow Democrats padded their majorities in both houses of Congress.Obama's Ohio victory denied McCain particularly precious territory. No Republican has ever won the presidency without it.
The 47-year-old Illinois senator watched returns at a downtown Chicago hotel, then went home to a family dinner after a marathon campaign across 49 states and 21 months.A jubilant crowd of thousands gathered in Grant Park across town on an unseasonably mild night. Cheers went up each time Obama was announced the winner in another state. The roar was particularly loud when Pennsylvania fell — the Democratic-leaning state where McCain had tried hardest to break through.
A survey of voters leaving polling places showed the economy was by far the top Election Day issue. Six in 10 voters said so, and none of the other top issues — energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care — was picked by more than one in 10."May God bless whoever wins tonight," President Bush told dinner guests at the White House, where his tenure runs out on Jan. 20.
He'll depart with the economy almost certainly in recession and millions of Americans counting their investment losses after a stock market swoon. The next commander in chief will inherit two wars, as well, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.
On Election Day, Obama swept through traditionally Democratic states in the East and Midwest.McCain countered in normally secure Republican territory.That left a string of battleground states. All had voted for President Bush in his narrow victory in 2004, but Obama invested heavily in hopes of succeeding Bush as the nation's 44th president.In addition to Ohio and Iowa, he led narrowly in Florida and by even less in Virginia and North Carolina.
McCain owned a small advantage in Missouri and the two were virtually tied in Indiana.Interviews with voters suggested that almost six in 10 women were backing Obama nationwide, and men leaned his way by a narrow margin. Just over half of whites supported McCain, giving him a slim advantage in a group that Bush carried overwhelmingly in 2004. The results of The Associated Press survey were based on a preliminary partial sample of nearly 10,000 voters in Election Day polls and in telephone interviews over the past week for early voters.
Obama had 202 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. McCain had 114.
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