Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the US, has created history again by a resounding poll victory in the race for the White House. Optimism, an ineradicably American trait personified by the 51-year-old Obama, managed to prevail over despair, triggered by a slow economic recovery and high unemployment.
In his victory speech, a beaming Obama was at his eloquent best, promising to restore ‘Brand America’ to its former glory. “While our road has been hard, though our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come,” he said to thunderous cheers from thousands of Americans who gathered to listen to him Tuesday night in his hometown Chicago.
In one of the tightest White House races ever, when major TV networks gave him just 274 electoral votes to take him over the threshold of 270 required to win, Obama surprised by sweeping to a clear victory with 310 votes, beating his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Supporters exploded into wild dancing and cheering at Obama’s victory party in Chicago as Obama tweeted: “Four more years.” “We’re all in this together. That’s how we campaigned, and that’s who we are. Thank you,” said another tweet from Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a white American mother.
The mood at Romney’s election-night gathering in Boston was sombre as the challenger called the president and came out to make a concession speech shortly before 1 a.m.
Addressing a gathering of cheering supporters in Boston, Romney said he wished Obama and his family well.
It was a “time of great challenges for America”, Romney said, adding that he prayed that the “president would be successful in guiding our nation”.
He also thanked his running mate Paul Ryan. “Besides my wife Ann, Paul is the best choice I ever made,” Romney, 65, said.
“She would have made a wonderful first lady,” he added.
(IWN -India Writes Network)
Author Profile
- Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.
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