In 75 days America will have a black Head of State.
Democratic nominee Barack Obama has marked history and assumed the title as the 44th president of the United States, the first black man to do so.
His opponent Republican John McCain conceded on Tuesday after losing in projected electoral votes 338 to 143. Obama had assumed 78 of the minimum 270 needed for the win by 8:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the Virginia polls had closed. Obama and Democratic former governor Mark Warner, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, won Virginia. Virginia was considered a battleground state in this year’s election though it had not elected a Democratic president in 44 years.
“We’ve come to the end of a long journey,” McCain said. “The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly.”
Hampton University students, most Obama supporters, gathered together after the election results to celebrate Obama’s triumph. In addition to attending a poll-watching party in the Student Center atrium, many students met outside Ogden Hall and the Hampton Harbor Apartments. Celebration in the Harbors included bonfires and fireworks before moving to Ogden.
Screams of joy and triumph echoed the campus as students celebrated their first time voting in a presidential election and the historical election of Obama.
Rashad Drakeford, a senior political science major from Queens, N.Y. was among those many students. Drakeford serves as the National HBCU Director for Students for Barack Obama.
“I was extremely excited,” Drakeford said. “Relieved, prideful, a lot of different emotions. It means a lot to not only us but people who are not even born yet.”
Obama’s win is not only monumental in America but abroad.
“The world is different on November 5th because of what happened on November 4th,” Drakeford said.
Students shared their excitement for the change in the oval office but believe there is much work to be done.
“I’m excited,” said Whitney Curley, a junior psychology major from Hampton. “I feel like it’s going to be a great thing, a good change for America. I’m ready to see what happens.”
“Now, he has to govern and we have to help him govern,” Drakeford said. “We have to do our part.”
While some celebrated, some students were working. Chris Swails, a senior broadcast journalism major from Cleveland, OH, was among those covering the election with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.
“I was at Christopher Newport University reporting when I first heard,” Swails said. “But when it was official I didn’t believe it. I still don’t believe it. I’ve been watching CNN trying to gather info.”
Though Swails is in shock when asked if he was excited, he answered, “Excited isn’t even the word.”
While some students registered and went to the polls to cast their vote for Obama, some sent absentee ballots to their home states.
Chelsea Sealey, a sophomore pharmacy major from Dayton, OH sent her absentee ballot in almost two weeks ago and was in support of Obama.
“I think he’s more geared towards the middle class and I like his short term goals more than McCain,” Sealey said.
Kehinde Adesina, a sophomore pharmacy major from Vacaville, Calif. had sent her ballot in three weeks ago but turned out to the Student Center to watch the results.
“I want to be around people who want to celebrate change,” Adesina said.
Change has come as Obama will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2009 and as the Democrats have won majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Obama spoke before an estimated 125,000 people in Chicago’s Grant Park on Tuesday after winning.
“This reaffirms the fundamental truth that out of many, we are one,” Obama said. “What we achieved today gives hope for what we can achieve tomorrow.”
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