By IANS,
Chicago : “Americans have sent a message to the world,” Barack Obama, the man who would be the United States’ first African American president, said Wednesday to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands here.
In an emotional speech, Obama began by saying: “If there is anyone out there that still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible… who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”
He said it was the answer told “by lines that stretched around schools and churches…” as they waited for hours to vote.
It was the answer, he said, spoken by the young and old, rich and poor, Hispanics and Asians, Democrats and Republicans.
“Americans have sent a message to the world. We are and always will be the United States of America,” the president elect said as he sent out his message to the world.
“It’s been a long time coming but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, change has come to America.”
A little bit earlier in the evening, Obama said, he got an “extraordinarily gracious call” from his Republican rival Senator John McCain. Paying a tribute to McCain who conceded defeat, Obama said he had “fought long and hard for this campaign, for this country”.