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Obama on verge of presidency with Ohio, Pennsylvania wins
2008-11-04
WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Barack Obama stood on the verge of becoming the first black US president, after capturing key states Ohio and Pennsylvania to leave Republican John McCain a near-impossible route to the presidency. On a dramatic night after millions of people cast votes in an election that could reshape US politics, Obama appeared a virtual lock to make history by capturing the White House and giving Democrats a monopoly on power in Washington. Tens of millions of people cast votes with America locked in a moment of crisis, mired in the worst financial meltdown since the 1930s and tens of thousands of troops in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. No one since John F Kennedy in 1960 has lost two of the critical triumvirate of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida and gone on to win the presidency. Florida was too close to call but Obama was outperforming Democratic nominee John Kerry's figures in the state in 2004. Obama also captured New Mexico, another Republican seat McCain needed to hold to keep his slim White House dreams alive. Almost certain victories for Obama in Washington state, Oregon and delegate rich California meant he was a virtual lock to capture the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Pennsylvania represented McCain 's best hope of capturing a state that was won by the Democrats in 2004, the central plank of his strategy given that polls he was likely to lose some of Republican states won by President George W. Bush in that election. Ohio was the state which was decisive in handing Bush reelection in 2004 and almost every projected route to victory for the Vietnam war hero involved him clinging on to Ohio and other key Republican states. The Pennsylvania and Ohio calls left Obama with a projected 200 electoral votes, more than half way to the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House. Obama also won Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Maine, New Hampshire, Washington DC, Delaware, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and Minnesota, according to network projections. McCain captured Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Carolina and Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Wyoming, Louisiana, Kansas and Texas. Other normally Republican states, North Carolina, and Virginia were too close-to-call, as was midwestern Indiana, in another positive sign for Obama. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said on ABC News that the campaign was cautiously confident. "We like what we see in Indiana, we like what we see from a turnout perspective in Virginia and North Carolina," he said. As expected, McCain snapped up Kentucky and West Virginia and Obama won Vermont, according to early network projections. Democrats took a third seat from Republicans in the Senate on Tuesday, putting them on track to win a majority with 52 seats in the 100-member legislative body, major US news networks said. Virginia's Mark Warner filled a seat being vacated by veteran Republican Senator John Warner, who is of no relation to the winner, according to CNN and Fox, while Democrat Jeanne Shaheen unseated Republican John Sununu in New Hampshire, said NBC and CBS. But Republican senate majority leader Mitch McConnell clung on, meaning that Democrats cannot now win the 60 seats they need in the 100-seat chamber needed to frustrate Republican obstruction tactics. Among the Republican casualties was Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina, wife of former Senate majority leader and defeated 1996 presidential nominee Bob Dole. CNN reported that exit polls showed that the economy was the top priority, being named by 62 percent of voters, compared to Iraq with 10 percent, terrorism on nine percent and healthcare on nine percent. Obama made a short election day trip to the midwestern swing state of Indiana, after casting his vote alongside wife Michelle with daughters Sasha and Malia close by. "I feel great and it was fun, I had a chance to vote with my daughters," he said. "I noticed that Michelle took a long time though. I had to check to see who she was voting for," the Hawaiian-born US senator from Illinois, 47, said with a laugh. McCain kept silent as he voted in his home state of Arizona, but later led a boisterous rally in Grand Junction, Colorado, promising supporters: "We're going to win it." McCain, a former Vietnam war prisoner would be at 72 the oldest president inaugurated for a first term if elected. Obama, the son of a black Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, would become the first African-American president after a stunning rise to the pinnacle of US politics.
Democrats expand control of Senate by 5 seats (2008-11-05)New Congress turns more -- much more -- Democratic (2008-11-05)Obama on verge of presidency with Ohio, Pennsylvania wins (2008-11-04)Democrats retain, expand control of Senate (2008-11-04)Both parties expect Democratic Senate pickups (2008-11-04)
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