US Election 2008

Obama wins historic US election

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States, prompting celebrations across the country.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight... change has come to America," the president-elect told a jubilant crowd at a victory rally in Chicago.

His rival John McCain accepted defeat, and called on his supporters to lend the next president their goodwill.

This reminds me of the Tony Blair moment in 1997

Maybe Obama turns out differently, maybe he won't, we shall just have to wait and see.

I mean when Blair got into power the UK was tired of 18 yrs of Tory rule, Blair looked fresh and new and made vague promises and did lots of smiling and look how he and Labour turned out - illegal invasions, excessive micromanaging, authortarian legislation, PFI, scrapping the 10p tax, letting the uber rich get away with everything, the list is quite long

So I am happy that Obama was elected but also cautious.

Obama Wins


Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP

Barack Obama to be America's first black president

John McCain praises rival in concession speech as record numbers turn out to vote in historic election

Americans placed their faith in Barack Obama today, overcoming a past of slavery and segregation, and electing the first African-American to the US presidency.

At Obama's election party in Chicago, there were raucous celebration and tears of joy as the US TV networks just after 11pm ET (4am GMT) declared that the Democratic candidate had been voted America's 44th president.

He was carried across the threshold by epic voter turnout across the country, giving him a wider margin over John McCain than any other president in the last two decades.

Obama, accompanied to the podium in his home town of Chicago by his wife Michelle and his two daughters, alluded to the historic nature of his victory.

Truly wonderful.

Blog Reactions

The furnace of American mythology

The Election of Barack Obama by Chris Floyd

President Obama: get your disillusionment while it’s hot

American Election Day 2008


Photograph: Tim Sloan/AFP

US voters queue to elect president

An election day of unprecedented engagement in the longest presidential campaign in US history brought exhausting queues and a handful of reported voting problems in polling stations across America.

Conscious of the delays caused by an expected record turnout, voters in several US states began queuing up to make their choice before the sun rose. In some areas of Virginia lines were forming from 4am, two hours before the polls opened.

The Election Protection Coalition, an alliance of several voting-rights groups, collected reports of scattered difficulties at polling stations across the US. Tales of broken ballot scanners and touch-screen voting machines were particularly notable in the swing states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

In Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana, legal skirmishes erupted over the method of counting provisional and absentee ballots, which could determine the margin of victory if the race remains close into the night.

America votes in historic election

Voters across the United States are flocking to polling stations to choose a new president.

Republican John McCain is attempting to defy the opinion polls, while Democrat Barack Obama is seeking to become the country's first black president.

Mr Obama and Mr McCain voted in their respective home cities of Chicago, Illinois, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Several key states are reporting a heavy turnout. A total of 130 million Americans are expected to vote.

If that figure is confirmed, turnout will be higher than in any election since 1960. About 29 million have voted early.

For a more sober take on this election by Chris Floyd - Failed States: America and Iraq, Rotted by War Crime or anything by Arthur Silber

To keep perspective Eschaton is the place to be.

A rather good concise post from Ken MacLeod

I don't expect anything radical to happen if Obama is elected, he is just as much a part of the system as his opponent McCain, only his campaign was better run but I appreciate that for many Americans after the horror of the Bush years it seems some sort of change, what change, well we'll just have to see.