By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 47, won the White House Tuesday in a color barrier-breaking landslide which included Michigan along with such battleground states as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.
Obama, who will be the nation's first black president, carried Cass County over John McCain, 12,080-11,112.
"The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly," McCain said in his Phoenix concession speech.
"America is a place where all things are possible," Obama said in Chicago's Grant Park. "If you still wonder if the dream of our founders is alive in our times. If you still question the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen by people who waited three hours, four hours, many for the first time in their lives because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference."
As countless people wept with joy, including Oprah Winfrey and Jesse Jackson, Obama said, "The answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states, we are and always will be the United States of America."
"It's the answer to those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve, to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more to the hope of a better day," Obama said. "It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
Earlier in the evening, Obama said he received an "extraordinarily gracious" call from McCain.
"Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign," Obama said, "and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him. I congratulate Gov. (Sarah) Palin for all that they've achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead."
Obama thanked Sen. Joe Biden, his vice president-elect and "my partner on this journey. He campaigned from his heart and spoke to the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton (Pa.) and rode with on the train home to Delaware."
Obama also thanked "my best friend for the past 16 years," calling his wife Michelle "the rock of our family, the love of my life and the nation's next first lady." He said daughters Sasha and Malia "earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."
"Although she's no longer with us," he said, "I know my grandmother's (Madelyn Dunham) watching, along with the family who made me who I am."
He credited "the unsung hero of this campaign," David Ploufe, with building "the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America" and also singled out chief strategist David Axelrod, a former Chicago Tribune reporter. "He's been a partner with me every step of the way. You're the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics. You made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you sacrificed to get it done. Above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements … young people rejected the myth of their generation's apathy … they drew strength from not-so-young people who braved bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers … and millions of Americans who volunteered and organized … This is your victory!"
Obama said he knew they didn't toil so "just to win an election. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead of us. Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime. Two wars. A planet in peril. The worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and in the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, pay their doctor bills or save enough for their child's college education."
"There's new energy to harness," Obama continued. "New jobs to be created. New schools to build. Threats to meet. Alliances to repair. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year, or even in one (four-year) term. But America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there."
"Yes we can!" the huge throng chanted in unison.
"There will be setbacks and false starts," he said. "There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. We know the government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you – especially when we disagree. Above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. That cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you. Without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other … In this country, we rise and fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our politics for so long."
Though the Democratic Party "won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress," Obama said. "As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, 'We are not enemies, but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.' To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too."
With a "new dawn of American leadership at hand," Obama reached out to listeners overseas to remind that "our stories are singular, but our destinies are shared."
"To those who would tear the world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright, tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the power of our ideals – democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope. That's the true genius of America – that America can change."