Friday, November 14, 2008
President-Elect Barack Obama First Youtube Weekly Address
It's still so surreal, but it is real. President Barack Obama.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Barack Hussien Obama elected 44th President of the United States
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The United States has a different face.
Having glimpsed the victims of Katrina, the jailers of Abu Ghraib and the failed financiers of Wall Street, the world can see the next president of the United States. He is a symbol of what America wants to be now.
After the longest and costliest election in U.S. history, Barack Obama won a landslide -- defeating his Republican opponent John McCain in the Electoral College by a margin of two-to-one.
Obama has promised enormous change for the United States and the world -- withdrawal from Iraq, real dialogue with America's enemies and better relations with its friends.
But the biggest change will be the obvious one. On January 20, an African-American will begin leading a country that first brought Africans to its shores as slaves and refused their descendents full rights until well into the 20th century; a country that was still wondering until the election results finally came in, if race would doom his candidacy.
Obama campaigned for the presidency as an outsider. Chicago, where he began his political career and claimed victory in the presidential election, is only his adopted home. He was born in Hawaii and educated in Indonesia and elsewhere in the United States.
He seemed like an outsider even at his own victory party. Thousands of people packed into a downtown park to celebrate -- laughing, crying or holding each other close. Broadcaster Oprah Winfrey and Activist Jesse Jackson both had tears in their eyes.
Obama may have been the only one who wasn't giving in to his emotions. He gave a very serious speech with a demeanor that made him seem like the only one in the crowd who wasn't all that happy.
Even before his victory, he told journalists that he wasn't particularly nervous about losing the election. He said that what kept him up at night were thoughts of the responsibilities that await the incoming president.
He'll be president in just over 10 weeks. He is promising change. You can see it in his face.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sad News...Obama's Grandmother has died the day before Election Day
(CNN) — Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died following a bout with cancer, Obama and his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, said Monday.
She was 86.
"She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility," their statement said. "She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances. She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure."
Obama and Soetoro-Ng asked that donations be made for the search for a cure for cancer in lieu of flowers.
A small private ceremony will be held "at a later date."
The Democratic presidential candidate left the campaign trail on October 23 and flew to Honolulu, Hawaii, to spend the day with Dunham, whose health deteriorated after she suffered a broken hip.
His wife, Michelle Obama, filled in for him at events in Columbus and Akron, Ohio, on October 24.
Obama said in an interview taped for that day's "Good Morning America" that Dunham had been "inundated" with flowers and messages from strangers who read about her in Obama's 1995 book, "Dreams From My Father."
"Maybe she is getting a sense of long-deserved recognition toward the end of her life," he said.
The candidate resumed his campaign on October 25.
Obama has spoken about his grandmother often on the stump, talking about what an integral figure she was in his youth and how she struggled against the glass ceiling in her career. He and his family traveled to Hawaii in August to visit her.
"She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life," he said in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. "She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and thattonight is her night as well."
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