Obama Inauguration Start Time
The swearing in of the United States’ 44th President Barack Obama beings at 11:30am EST at the United States Capitol Building.
It will be aired on almost every channel known to humankind.
Sphere: Related ContentSarah Palin Didn’t Know Africa Was a Continent
Reports are coming out post-election that Sarah Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent along with not knowing the countries involved with NAFTA.
Carl Cameron’s report also talks about Palin’s fury with the McCain campaign and the throwing of papers in frustration of the coverage she was getting from the MSM.
Cameron also mentions “nailing” Palin but not in reference to the porn flick “Nailin’ Paylin” that was released last month.
There is always those after an election that try to leak juicy gossip or sometimes even get a book deal out of it. It will be interesting to see where Palin goes from here.
Sphere: Related ContentBarack Obama Elected President
Congrats to Barack Obama on his historic victory as the first African-American President of the United States.
Barack will be sworn in as President on January 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
Sphere: Related ContentPresident-Elect Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech (Full Text)
Full Text of President-Elect Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech from Chicago, Illinois on November 4, 2008
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
Sphere: Related ContentJohn McCain 2008 Presidential Concession Speech (Full Text)
Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.
My friends, we have we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honour of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him.
(Crowd boos)
Please.
To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.
In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I’ve always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.
But we both recognise that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now … Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.
Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.
These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans … I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.
It is natural. It’s natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.
We fought we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.
(Crowd: “No!”)
I am so…
(Crowd begins chanting)
I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honour of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.
The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.
I’m especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother … my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.
I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.
You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate’s family than on the candidate, and that’s been true in this campaign.
All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.
I am also, I am also, of course, very thankful to governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I’ve ever seen … one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength … her husband Todd and their five beautiful children … for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.
We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican party and our country.
To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenging campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.
I don’t know, I don’t know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I’ll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I’m sure I made my share of them. But I won’t spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.
This campaign was and will remain the great honour of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honour of leading us for the next four years.
(Crowd boos)
Please. Please.
I would not, I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century.
Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.
Tonight, tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, whether they supported me or Senator Obama.
I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender.
We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.
-John McCain
November 4, 2008
2008 Early Voting Presidential Election Poll Results
Electoral Count
Barack Obama - 349 McCain - 161
———————————————
Update: 8:51am
- Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech from Chicago, Illinois
- John McCain’s Concession Speech from Phoenix, Arizona
Update: 12:00am
- Barack Obama gives rousing acceptance speech where he makes an American hero out of Anne Nixon Cooper. Obama seems determined to try his best to attempt to lead from the middle.
Update: 11:30pm
- John McCain gives gracious concession speech from Phoenix, Arizona.
Update: 11:00pm
- CNN, MSNBC and Fox News call it for Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States. Congratulations to Barack and Michelle!
Update: 10:40pm
- Obama wins Virginia
Update: 10:19pm
- McCain wins Mississippi, Nebraska
Update: 10:05pm
- McCain camp starting to state that it is looking impossible.
Update: 9:59pm
- McCain wins Kansas, Wyoming, North Dakota, Texas, Utah
- Obama wins Iowa
Update: 9:51pm
- Popular Vote Totals: Obama 19,921,627 - McCain 19,620,262
- Missouri 13% reporting: McCain 53% - Obama 45%
Update: 9:44pm
- Popular Vote Total: Obama 15,056,142 - McCain 14,788,905
Update: 9:35pm
- Obama wins Ohio
Update: 9:30pm
- Ohio reporting 15%: Obama 55% - McCain 43%
- McCain wins Louisiana
Update: 9:05pm
- Obama wins Wisconsin, New Mexico, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Michigan
- McCain wins North Dakota, Wyoming
Update: 8:54pm
- Popular Vote Total: Obama 8,855,246 - McCain 8,943,421
Update: 8:45pm
- Michigan reporting 1%: McCain 51% - Obama 47%
- North Carolina reporting 16%: Obama 54% - McCain 45%
- Ohio reporting 1%: Obama 63% - McCain 36%
Update: 8:42pm
- McCain wins Georgia (15 electoral votes)
Update: 8:38pm
- Virginia reporting 39%: McCain 55%- Obama 44%
- Florida reporting 36%: Obama 52% - McCain 47%
- Indiana reporting 46%: McCain 51% - Obama 48%
Update: 8:32pm
- Obama wins Pennsylvania (21 electoral votes)
- McCain wins Arkansas (6 electoral votes)
Update: 8:27pm
- Popular Vote Total: Obama 5,790,549 (51%) - McCain 5,522,286 (48%)
Update: 8:20pm
- Georgia 7% reporting: McCain 60% - Obama 39%
- Florida 30% reporting: Obama 53% - McCain 46%
- Obama camp thinks they will win Pennsylvania
Update: 8:15pm
- (D) Kay Hagan beats (R) Elizabeth Dole for North Carolina Senate seat.
- Obama wins New Hampshire
Update: 8:05pm
- McCain wins Tennessee
- Virginia 19% reporting: McCain 56% - Obama 43%
- Florida 15% reporting: Obama 55% - McCain 44%
- Joe Biden wins 7th term as Senator from Delaware.
Update: 8:01 pm
- Obama wins Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, DC, Conn., Maine, New Jersey
- McCain wins Oklahoma
Update: 7:48pm
- McCain wins South Carolina (8 Electoral Votes)
Update: 7:38pm
- Popular Vote: Obama 1,087,000 - McCain 1,022,000
Update: 7:27pm
- Obama wins Vermont, McCain wins Kentucky, West Virginia
Update: 7:15pm
- Virginia 1% - McCain 55% - Obama 44%
- Florida 1% - McCain 53% - Obama 46%
- Kentucky 11% - McCain 53% - Obama 46% DECLARED MCCAIN
- Indiana 8% - Obama 50% - McCain 49%
Update: 5:40pm
Late Deciders
- Virginia: McCain 55% - Obama 44%
- Ohio: Obama 54% - McCain 39%
- Indiana: Obama 52% - McCain 45%
- Indiana: Obama 73% - McCain 27%
- Ohio: Obama 69% - McCain 31%
- Virginia: Obama 63% - McCain 36%
- Indiana: McCain 54% - Obama 44%
- Ohio McCain 51% - Obama 47%
- Virginia: McCain 58% - Obama 39%
Electoral College (270 Votes Needed)
Barack Obama
John McCain
Sources: Fox News, CNN, Politico
Sphere: Related ContentAyers, Farrakhan Vote at Same Poll as Obama
They are all coming out of the wood work today. Domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and racist Louis Farrakhan both voted at the same voting place, Shoesmith Elementary School, that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle voted at early morning. We shall see what other Barack buddies show up as the day progresses.
Sphere: Related ContentObama’s Grandmother Madelyn Dunham Dies
Barack Obama released a statement earlier today that his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died earlier today in Hawaii. She had been battling cancer for a lengthy time.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer,” Obama said in a joint statement with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. “She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility.”
Dunham helped raise Obama from the age of 10 while his mother was working in Indonesia, and Obama took an emotional 22-hour trip to Hawaii to visit her on October 23 and 24.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Obama on the eve of this historic 2008 election.
Sphere: Related ContentObama Gave Hillary the Bird as Well
John McCain shouldn’t be too offended by Barack Obama flipping him the bird earlier today during today’s campaign stop. Obama was seen flipping the bird as he told his supporters he would congratulate McCain after the election is over.
McCain shouldn’t take it personally because Obama did the same thing while talking about Hillary Clinton attacking him during their primary as seen in the video below.
Video: Obama Flipping Off John McCain
Sphere: Related ContentBarack Obama Flips John McCain the Bird
Check Out the Video Here of Obama Flipping McCain the Bird
UPDATE: Obama Gave Hillary the Bird as Well (Video)
Sphere: Related ContentNicolas Sarkozy Prank Phone Call Sarah Palin
Two French Canadian disc jockeys get through to governor Sarah Palin and impersonate that they are French president Nicolas Sarkozy. They start our pretty serious before asking her about hunting, her being president, Sarkozy’s hot wife, and the porn flick ‘Nail’n Palin.’
Sphere: Related ContentVideo: John McCain’s Appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live’
(Via Right Pundits) From introducing Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey as his running mate Sarah Palin next to him, to a fun skit selling stuff on QVC because it was the only channel he could afford to buy airtime on — an obvious poke at the Obama infomercial — John McCain was funny, relaxed, and self effacing.
Even his wife Cindy got in on the act. She was featured in a cameo playing a jewelry saleswoman for a line of “McCain Fine Gold”, an obvious reference to the Arizona senator’s 2002 campaign reform legislation passed along with co-sponsor Democratic Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin.
Tina Fey as Sarah Palin even hawked “Palin 2012” t-shirts, tellin everyone to “wait until after Tuesday to wear them!”
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