Barack Obama wins race for White House

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Updated: 7:13 AM Nov 5, 2008 Barack Obama wins race for White House After a grueling campaign spanning the better part of two years, Barack Obama has defeated John McCain to become the 44th president of the United States of America. Posted: 11:06 PM Nov 4, 2008

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Senator Barack Obama will be the next president in the White House with Vice President Joe Biden.

As the clock struck 11 PM Eastern, the polls for parts of the West Coast closed and Barack Obama was projected to eclipse the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Obama wrapped up California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, pushing him past 270 votes.

The junior senator from Illinois is the first ever African-American president.

Obama won the presidency by snagging states that voted for President Bush in 2004 as well as grabbing a huge percentage of voters under 30.

Lake County did two things Tuesday night it couldn't in May: count the votes in a timely fashion and help deliver the state of Indiana to Barack Obama.

Obama was declared the winner shortly after 2 a.m., beating John McCain by nearly 23,000 votes to become the first Democrat to capture Indiana in 44 years.

Senior advisers for Arizona Senator John McCain said he was "fine" but felt "he let his staff and supporters down."

No matter what, the 2008 election was going to be historic. If McCain and running mate Sarah Palin won, McCain would have become the oldest President in office, while Palin would have become the first female vice-president in history.

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