Democrat Barack Hussein
Obama has been elected the first African-American president of the
United States in a contest that shattered racial barriers.
With polls now closed, the 47-year-old
first-term senator from Illinois has captured the key states of Florida,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and California.
Those wins, combined with a slew of other
states, have given him 338 electoral votes so far, more than enough to
defeat Republican rival John McCain.
Swiss President Pascal Couchepin hailed
Obama's win as "the choice of the future".
"America has shown it is capable of
opening new frontiers," he said.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey also
welcomed the news, saying Obama "speaks like we do".
"[He] speaks of dialogue, human rights and
climate change," she said. "He transcends the past drama of racism in
the United States."
In a victory speech before a crowd of
about 125,000 supporters in Chicago, Obama pledged to restore the
country's standing in the world, tackle the financial crisis and reunite
a population divided under George W. Bush.
"We rise or fall as one nation, as one
people," he said in words reminiscent of civil rights leader Martin
Luther King. "A new dawn of American leadership is at hand."
America's might, he said, did not come
from the power of its military or the amount of its wealth but from the
quality of its ideals – liberty, democracy and opportunity.
(Taken from WWW.BBC.CO.UK/NEWS)
- November 2008
