The United States has elected its first African-American president with the victory of Barack Obama in Tuesday's balloting.
The Democratic Party candidate captured well over the 270 electoral
votes he needed with projected victories in several West Coast states.
Senator Obama has a total of 297 electoral votes to 138 for his
Republican opponent, Senator John McCain.
Hundreds of thousands of Obama supporters in his hometown of Chicago
broke into screams of joy as soon as U.S. television networks declared
him the winner.
McCain's bid for the White House fell short when he lost several
hotly-contested states, including Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and
Virginia. No Republican had lost Virginia since 1964.
Obama's victory ends eight years of Republican control of the White House under President George Bush.
He becomes the first black president in the United States' 232-year history. He will be sworn in on January 20th, 2009.
Polls show Obama's campaign gained momentum as the U.S. economic crisis
grew worse. Obama repeatedly linked McCain's economic policies to those
of the unpopular incumbent, Republican President George Bush.
McCain tried to distance himself from the president.