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    Obama 2008

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November 5, 2008

'Change has come'

Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation's first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. “Change has come,” he declared to a huge throng of cheering supporters.

Edmond resident Iris Lochner, a staunch Obama supporter, was elated.

At about 10 p.m., national television networks called the presidential race, giving the nod to Barack Obama, who will become the nation’s first African American president in January.

At 10:30 p.m., CNN had Obama with 44,069,708 votes, 51 percent of the total, and John McCain with 41,042,359 votes, 48 percent of the total.

Lochner, 79, said she has seen a lot of politics, and she has been troubled by the recent gridlock in Congress. But Obama’s convincing electoral college win signals sweeping change.

“It makes me feel we’re headed in the right directional finally,” Lochner said. “We need to work together. We’re not Democrats and Republicans. We’re Americans.”

Edmond resident Tom Guild, visiting professor of legal studies at Oklahoma City University and professor emeritus at the University of Central Oklahoma, said with the challenges facing the nation, chiefly a sagging economy, Obama will have to hit the ground running.

Guild said Obama can either use his mandate to govern by force, or he can realize that many voters sided with McCain, and reach out to them.

Regarding history being made, Guild said that during the next 50 years America will become even more of a “melting pot,” and there will be an increasing number of firsts in politics.

Guild, who predicted McCain would carry Oklahoma, expected the voter totals to be significantly high when results were final.

“Both candidates appealed to a broad segment of voters,” Guild said.

Not long after the polling places across the state closed at 7 p.m., news organizations projected McCain to win Oklahoma. At 10:55 p.m., McCain held a 66.61 percent to 33.39 percent lead over Obama in the Sooner State.

State election results will not include provisional ballot results until after 5 p.m. Friday. Results are subject to contest and recount and are neither final nor official until they are certified by the State Election Board.

Obama’s election capped a meteoric rise — from mere state senator to president-elect in four years.

In his first speech as victor, Obama catalogued the challenges ahead. “The greatest of a lifetime,” he said, “two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.”

He added, “There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.”



the associated press contributed to this story

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