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EPAPIX
Students hold placards in support of Obama at the Menteng One
primary school in Jakarta yesterday.
Ex-Indonesia classmates
delight over victory
JAKARTA: Barack Obama’s ex-
classmates in Indonesia, where
he spent part of his childhood,
reacted with joy as the boy who
stood by their side in the school
yearbook years ago was elected
as the first black US president.
“I remember in the class book,
all students were writing down
their goals and wishes. Some
said they wanted to be lawyers,
soldiers, pilot and doctors, but he
was the one who said he wanted
to be president,” said Dewi As-
mara, a former classmate.
Cheering his victory at a gath-
ering of about 200 Indonesians
and Americans, Obama’s class-
mates said they were delighted
with his win because they felt
a special emotional connection
Barack Obama was elected U.S. president following the highest voter
participation in 100 years, with an estimated 137 million people
casting their vote – 29 million of them even before election day
Percentage of voting age population
65.4 1908 William H. Taft (R)
William J. Bryan (D)
1960 John F. Kennedy (D) 62.8
Richard Nixon (R)
1952 Dwight Eisenhower (R)
Adlai Stevenson (D) 61.6
1940 Franklin D.
Roosevelt (D)
60 Wendell 58.9
Wilkie (R)
50
40
1920 1940
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Picture: Associated Press
with the Democrat who spent
four years in Indonesia.
“For the people of Indonesia
there is a sentimental feeling.
There’s a special bonding that
we have,” said Asmara.
Classmates and teachers in
Jakarta remember Obama affec-
tionately as a child who loved to
draw cartoon characters.
“He was a very accommoda-
tive individual. He got along with
all students, learning in an ordi-
nary school in a foreign country,
playing the same games as us,”
ex-classmate Rully Dasaad said.
Obama moved to Indonesia
after his mother, Ann Dunham,
married Indonesian Lolo Soetoro
following the end of her marriage to
Obama’s Kenyan father. – Reuters
REUTERSPIX
2008 Barack Obama (D) 65 est.
John McCain (R)
1992 Bill Clinton (D)
George H. W. Bush (R)
61.3
1960 1980 2000
© GRAPHIC NEWS
McCain: American people
have spoken clearly
PHOENIX: Republican John
McCain congratulated Democrat
McCain Barack Obama for winning
stands with
his wife
Cindy as he
the US presidency on Tuesday,
saying “the American people
have spoken” and promising to
delivers his
concession
help his former rival address the
country’s many challenges.
speech in McCain addressed his
Phoenix supporters in an emotional
after Obama speech at a Phoenix hotel after
defeated telephoning Obama to concede
him. the election. Obama later
said McCain’s call had been
Smiles, frowns as US troops learn of Obama win
CAMP SPEICHER (Iraq): The white Ameri-
can soldier sitting quietly in the dining hall
of Camp Speicher, the sprawling US military
base near Saddam Hussein’s hometown,
had just two words to say as television
networks reported Barack Obama winning
the state of Pennsylvania.
“It’s done,” he said with a resigned
expression on his face.
But as the results showed Obama tak-
ing a commanding lead in the race for the
White House, black American soldiers in the
mess hall began to smile.
“Our time has come, guys,” one young
black soldier told his fellow soldiers.
theSun
“extraordinarily gracious.”
“We have come to the end of
a long journey. The American
people have spoken, and they
have spoken clearly,” McCain
said.
“Senator Obama has achieved
a great thing for himself and for
his country. I applaud him for it.”
The 72-year-old Arizona
senator urged all Americans
– including his supporters
– to rally behind Obama, saying
he planned to help the new
president-elect tackle the myriad
issues the country faced.
“It’s natural, tonight, to feel
some disappointment. But
tomorrow, we must move beyond
it and work together to get our
country moving again,” McCain
told his supporters, shushing
them occasionally with “please,
please” when they booed his
mentions of Obama.
McCain and Obama clashed
over the Iraq war, taxes, trade,
and energy policy during a
heated, five-month general
election, but the Arizona senator
pledged his support as the next
president navigates a major
financial crisis and two wars
abroad.
“Senator Obama and I have
had and argued our differences,
and he has prevailed,” McCain
said, adding many of those
The doors to the mess hall at the camp
near Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam in
northern Iraq, opened at daybreak and
American soldiers filed in quietly to eat
and catch a glimpse of who their next
commander in chief would be.
The military base had been quiet during
the night, with soldiers preferring to go to
their beds rather than sit up and watch the
election results.
But at daybreak the soldiers’ eyes
were glued to two flat screen TVs which
broadcast news as they ate their breakfast
in silence in the mess hall.
US army officials said the allegiance of
| THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6 2008
differences remained. “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.”
McCain was joined by his
running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin, whom he praised as a vital
new voice in their party.
“We can all look forward with
great interest to her future service
to Alaska, the Republican Party
and our country.”
After a campaign that grew
negative at times, most recently
with Republican attacks on
Obama’s ties to a 1960s radical,
McCain emphasized common
ground between the two men.
“Whatever our differences,
we are fellow Americans and
please believe me when I say no
association has meant more to
me than that.”
He also acknowledged the
historic nature of Obama’s win.
“This is an historic election,
and I recognise the special
significance it has for African-
Americans and for the special
pride that must be theirs tonight,”
he said.
McCain also thanked his
campaign staff and his family
for their support in his nearly
two-year White House quest.
– Reuters
the armed forces is overwhelming in favour
of the Republicans, with only about a third
of troops favouring the Democratic party.
Some soldiers expressed concern that
Obama as president bodes badly for the
military.
At the north of the base, a sergeant and
a soldier discussed the result. “You saw?
Obama won, he’s got the state of Virginia.”
“Devil!” the sergeant answered, striking
her chest with her fist. “It will be hell for the
army,” she said.
“Yes, it is really bad news,” responded
the soldier before returning to the room he
shares with another soldier. – AFP