Obama makes history in Oval office.

Americans have sent a message to the world," Barack Obama, the man who would be the United States' first African American president, said on Wednesday to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands in Chicago.
In an emotional speech, Obama began by saying: "If there is anyone out there that still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible... who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."
He said it was the answer told "by lines that stretched around schools and churches..." as they waited for hours to vote. It was the answer, he said, spoken by the young and old, rich and poor, Hispanics and Asians, Democrats and Republicans.
"Americans have sent a message to the world. We are and always will be the United States of America," the president elect said as he sent out his message to the world.
"It's been a long time coming but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, change has come to America."
Obama was elected the nation's first black president on Tuesday night in a historic triumph that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself.
The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his victory by defeating Republican Sen John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states - Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa.
McCain called his former rival to concede defeat - and the end of his own 10-year quest for the White House. "The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly," McCain told disappointed supporters in Arizona.
Obama and his running mate, Sen Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on January 20, 2009. As the 44th president, Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession, and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.
The popular vote was close, but not the count in the Electoral College, where it mattered most. There, Obama's audacious decision to contest McCain in states that hadn't gone Democratic in years paid rich dividends.
Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months.
Fellow Democrats rode his coattails to larger majorities in both houses of Congress. They defeated incumbent Republicans and won open seats by turn.
Humble origins
The 47-year-old Illinois senator was little known just four years ago. A widely praised speech at the Democratic National Convention, delivered when he was merely a candidate for the Senate, changed that.
Overnight he became a sought-after surrogate campaigner, and he had scarcely settled into his Senate seat when he began preparing for his run for the White House.
A survey of voters leaving polling places on Tuesday 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 January 20.
The Democratic leaders of Congress celebrated in Washington. "It is not a mandate for a party or ideology but a mandate for change," said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Said Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, "Tonight the American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America."
Shortly after 11 pm in the East, The Associated Press count showed Obama with 338 electoral vote, well over the 270 needed for victory. McCain had 127 after winning states that comprised the normal Republican base.
The nationwide popular vote was remarkably close. Totals from 58 percent of the nation's precincts showed Obama with 51 percent and McCain with 47.9.
Women back Obama
Interviews with voters suggested that almost six in 10 women were backing Obama nationwide, while 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 AP 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.
Democrats also acclaimed Senate successes by former Gov Mark Warner in Virginia, Rep Tom Udall in New Mexico and Rep. Mark Udall in Colorado. All won seats left open by Republican retirements.
In New Hampshire, former Gov Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican Sen. John Sununu in a rematch of their 2002 race, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole fell to Democrat Kay Hagan in North Carolina.
Democrats also looked for gains in the House. They found their first in Florida, defeating Rep Tom Feeney, and another in Connecticut, where 22-year veteran Chris Shays was swept away by the Democratic tide.
The resurgent Democrats also elected a governor in one of the nation's traditional bellwether states when Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon won his race.