In a watershed election, Americans on Wednesday emphatically elected Barack Obama as their first black President who is committed to reshaping the US role on the world stage, including the Indian subcontinent.
Obama, the Harvard-educated lawyer and Illinois Senator, won 349 electoral college votes against 163 of McCain out of a total 538 after an epic 21-month-long campaign in the most expensive-ever election.
Obama polled 52 per cent of the popular votes against 72-year-old McCain's 47. In the last elections four years ago, Republican and incumbent President George W Bush polled 50.7 per cent votes winning 286 electoral college ballots as against 48.3 per cent of his Democratic rival John Kerry.
In the 435-member House of Representatives, Democrats won 251 seats and the Republicans 171. In the 100-member Senate, Democrats got 56 seats and Republicans 40.
Obama's terrific showing, riding a wave of discontent against incumbent Bush's policies, swept aside Republicans in the battleground states of Ohio, Virginia Pennsylvania, Florida and California and made major inroads into Republican strongholds to gain a monopoly of power in Washington the White House and both the chambers of the US Congress.
