/ 6 November 2008

Obama’s new United States

Barack Obama will pay homage to Abraham Lincoln when he takes the oath of office as the United States’s next president in January, urging his fellow citizens to unite in ”a new birth of freedom”.

Obama, who chose to launch his election campaign last year at the spot in Illinois where Lincoln began his, will express a hope that as the 44th president he too will usher in a new American era.

The Democratic president-elect, enjoying messages of congratulations from leaders round the world, spent the day closeted with his advisers in Chicago planning the team that will move into the West Wing and executive office as President George Bush prepares to move out.

Bush, in offering his congratulations, promised full cooperation with the incoming administration, and hailed the historic nature of Obama’s victory. ”No matter how they cast their ballots, all Americans can be proud of the history that was made …” Bush said in remarks delivered from the White House rose garden.

”This moment is especially uplifting for a generation of Americans who witnessed the struggle for civil rights with their own eyes — and four decades later see their dream fulfilled.”

He said he had invited Obama and his wife, Michelle, to the White House before the inauguration on January 20. Although that is 75 days away, Obama’s team demonstrated urgency on Wednesday by opening a transition office on Capitol Hill.

The Democrat’s aides are expected to begin moving into key departments such as the Treasury within days to work with the outgoing administration. The priority is to get an economic stimulus package in place as quickly as possible.

As the US celebrated on Wednesday, the stock markets suffered another difficult day; the Dow Jones index dropped by 3% because of recession fears.

In another indication of the shift in power, Obama is to begin receiving intelligence briefings from the CIA from Thursday. ”He will see the full range of capabilities we deploy for the United States,” the CIA director, Michael Hayden, said in a letter to employees.

‘Very emotional’
Obama’s sweeping victory to become the first black president elicited emotion across the political spectrum on Wednesday. The Republican former secretary of state, Colin Powell, who watched the results come in from Hong Kong, was brought to tears. ”The fact that he’s also black just has turned America on,” Powell told reporters. He paused for a few seconds, before adding: ”Very emotional.”

Bush’s current Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, also noted the historic nature of the result, saying American democracy ”continues to surprise. It continues to renew itself.”

She added: ”As an African-American, I’m especially proud.”

Obama won a bigger share of the popular vote than any Democrat since Lyndon Johnson’s victory in 1964, and re-established the party as a truly national force by taking states in the south and the west. He also took Florida and Ohio, the key to Bush’s victories in 2000 and 2004.

Under America’s system of indirect election, in which states are accorded electoral votes according to population, Obama had 349 electoral college votes against 162 for McCain. Final results had yet to come in from Missouri and North Carolina on Wednesday but Obama was well above the threshold of 270 needed.

With most US precincts having reported, Obama had 52% of the popular vote against 47% for McCain. Turnout was expected to be 136,6-million.

After the epic scale of this election, the most expensive in history, Democrats were preparing for inaugural celebrations on a grand scale in January.

There were expectations on Wednesday that the event could draw crowds of a million or more people hoping to witness a momentous day for the United States.

The Democratic Senator, Dianne Feinstein, who is chairing the committee arranging the inauguration, plans to highlight the historic nature of Obama’s election and draw the theme for the celebrations from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.

Feinstein spoke on Wednesday of the potent symbolism of Obama looking from the steps of Congress down the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, revisiting the words of Lincoln about reuniting a divided nation in his Gettysburg address. Next year marks the bicentenary of Lincoln’s birth.

Obama’s immediate plans, however, are to spend a few days in Chicago working on his new team. He got up early on Wednesday to work out in the gym despite having given his victory speech in the city late on Tuesday in front of 100 000 supporters.

He is also likely, too, to return to Hawaii for a small private family ceremony to mark the death of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died on Monday.

As well as taking the White House, the Democrats extended their control of the House and Senate. They picked up five more senators, but fell short of the 60 seats that would give the party the overall majority to prevent Republicans blocking legislation for sustained periods. — guardian.co.uk