More than two centuries after America was “born with the ugly birthmark of slavery”, an African-American has been elected president, said Economist.com. Barack Obama achieved a resounding victory, notching up 52% of the popular vote, the first time a Democrat has eclipsed 50% since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and around 350 electoral college votes – far beyond the 270 required. Turnout in the presidential election was estimated at around 65%, the highest for a century. The Democrats also gained ground in both houses of Congress.
Obama’s “extraordinary magnetism” helped him galvanise a host of young and new voters and won him support from all demographic categories, as Clive Crook noted on FT.com. The largest, “best-organised and most energetic grassroots campaign” ever also helped, said Walter Shapiro on Salon.com, while jitters over the economy – notably in crucial swing states – worked in his favour. McCain’s fumbling response to the financial crisis, along with the “calm and disciplined” campaign, helped Obama assure voters that he would be a safer leader in times of financial turmoil, said Economist.com. Finally, a strong feeling that America had “lost its way” over the past four years cemented the desire for change, added Gerard Baker in The Times.
Obama’s daunting in-tray
Obama faces a “devastating inheritance”, said Hamish McRae in The Independent. US self-confidence has been dealt a big blow: the financial system is being propped up by the state and the federal deficit is on its way to $1trn, so there is scant scope for public spending to stimulate the economy, which is sinking into a nasty recession. America’s reputation abroad has been battered and Afghanistan and Iraq have yet to be sorted out. Given the scale of the task ahead, said Edward Luce on FT.com, Obama may find that “his greatest accomplishment for many years to come is already behind him”.