It's Obama! Volusia County votes 52.18 percent for Barack

President-elect promises time of change and hope

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Nov 5, 2008 - 2:56:56am

It was the phone call that changed history. It was placed at 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, according to national news wires.

The call was from Sen. John McCain to Sen. Barack Obama. McCain conceded the election and promised to work with the senator from Illinois.

"Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and his country," McCain said.

The two promised to meet, to see how they could work together.

Obama garnered 338 electoral votes to McCain's 159, giving Obama 68 more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election. Obama was ahead in the popular vote 51 percent to 47 percent.

He won the State of Florida by 50.9 percent of the votes, compared to McCain's 48.4 percent. In Volusia County, it was Obama by 52.18 percent to McCain's 46.55 percent.

About a hour after McCain's call, Obama addressed the nation from Grant Park in Chicago, where an estimated 125,000 people gathered to hear his speech.

Obama asked the crowd if there was anyone who didn't believe all things were possible.

"Tonight is your answer," he said.

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Obama thanked his wife, Michelle, whom he called the love of his life.

He said to his daughters, "Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House."

The crowd thundered applause.

"And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure," Obama said.

The grandmother who helped raise Obama, 86-year-old Madelyn Dunham, died of cancer in Hawaii Sunday night.

Obama's campaign staff also received thanks and praise for a job well done. Obama heaped praise on running mate Sen. Joseph Biden.

The new president issued a call for unity, saying "We always will be the United States of America."

The presidency, he told the country, "belongs to you."

Obama said the race was won by hardworking American people who built up the campaign, begun without much money or endorsements.

"It proved government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth," Obama said, paraphrasing another president from Illinois – Abraham Lincoln.

Obama promised, "I will always listen to you, especially when we disagree."

He called for a new government, acting in humility and determination to heal the country's and the world's divisions.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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