Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 1-1

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2008 Obama Our next president YEAR NO.310©CHICAGO TRIBUNECCNCSNNNWNRWNSNWSSSWW arack Obama, son of an African man and a white woman from Kansas, a figure virtually unknown outside his home state of Illinois just five years ago, emphatically captured the presidency Tuesday night. we have come so Obama told cheering thousands in Grant Park. have seen so much. But there is so much more to His implausible journey to become the first African-American president began on a cold February day almost two years ago, as he entered the race for the White House. Obama had spent little time on the national stage and was the furthest thing from a traditional candidate.

Among other things, he was an Afri- can-American in a country still grappling with the question of race. With his victory, tortured relationship with race has entered a new phase. The Obama presidency may be a sign that a country that all too recently tolerated segregation has moved irrevocably forward, or it may mean only that the nation is so hungry for change that it set racial struggles aside. The challenges facing Obama are many, including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a battered economy. He will confront them soon enough.

But Tuesday night was a time to marvel at a once-inconceivable moment in American history. COMPLETE ELECTION COVERAGE INSIDE Before a huge Grant Park crowd, President-elect Obama declares: has come to In capturing the White House, Barack Obama redrew the electoral map, winning a larger share of the popular vote than any Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. PHIL Product: CTMAIN PubDate: 11-05-2008 Zone: ALL Edition: HD Page: CMAIN1-1 User: resmith Time: Color:.