WASHINGTON (AlArabiya.net, Agencies)
Democrat Barack Obama held a steady lead over Republican John McCain as the networks projected wins in the key battelground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Pennsylvania, giving him more then 200 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.
The Pennsylvania and Ohio calls left Obama with a projected 207 electoral votes. Adding in California, a traditionally Democratic stronghold with 55 electoral votes, Obama only needed eight more votes from the remaining 16 states.
"At this point we need a miracle” a McCain aide told NBC news. Two senior McCain aides were quoted by Fox and CNN as saying "there is no path to victory."
But with polls still open in many Western states Republican analysts warned the race was too early to call, and networks were being cautious to avoid calling the race too early.
" At this point we need a miracle " McCain aide Wearing huge smiles and "I Voted" stickers, tens of thousands packed a downtown Chicago park and the surrounding area Tuesday for Barack Obama's election night party, drawn by the chance to be part of history.
A total of 65,000 supporters received tickets to attend the party in Grant Park, passing through lengthy security checks to gain access to the event site where six searchlights arced into an unusually balmy autumn night above the stage.
Michelle Culpepper, 40, didn't have a ticket to the official party but was happy to join the throngs on the other side of the park for an event that locals were calling "Obama-rama." One million people were expected in the park and surrounding area.
"I want to be able to look back 20 or 30 years from now and know I was part of it," she said.
Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, would be the first black U.S. president and 90 percent of those polled said that race is not an issue in their vote, according to the BBC.
A victory for McCain, 72, would make him the oldest president to begin a first term in the White House and make his running mate Sarah Palin the first female U.S. vice president.
McCain's hopes for an upset rested on a tightening trend seen in some polls last week, or the possibility that all polls have overestimated Obama's support. But projections as most of the polls closed voided this hope.
Although the networks refrained from calling a winner, the blogosphere was already crowning Obama president-elect and calling the end for Republican John McCain.
American T.V. networks make projections based on exit polls and early
vote counting.
They have called a number of key states but are yet to declare
an overall winner, having become more cautious after the election in 2000 when they wrongly claimed Democrat Al Gore had won the election. After voting controversy, he lost to George W. Bush.
The vastly unpopular incumbent president, George W. Bush, cloistered himself with family and friends as America voted, privately invoking God's blessing on whoever succeeds him, his spokeswoman said. |
World stocks rose to a two-week high and U.S. stocks gained with major indices up more than 2 percent in their biggest Election Day rally ever, as investors looked with relief to the end of the uncertainty surrounding the long fight for the White House.
Six in 10 voters said in exit polls that economic worries were top in their mind.
Analysts have said market prices probably already reflect expectations of an Obama victory. If Democrats expand their control of Congress, it may be easier for the new administration, which takes over in January, to deal with the financial crisis.
Obama took command of the race in the last month as a deepening financial crisis reinforced his perceived strengths on the economy, and what was viewed as a better performance in three debates.
Democrats are also expected to expand majorities in both chambers of Congress. They need to gain nine Senate seats to reach a 60-seat majority that would give them the muscle to defeat Republican procedural hurdles.
That would raise pressure on Democrats to deliver on campaign promises to end the war in Iraq, eliminate Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and overhaul health care. |
