The senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, made history Tuesday when he was elected the 44th president of the United States. The scale and sweep of his victory are nothing short of breathtaking: Not only did he win a landslide in the electoral college, but he rode a Democratic wave into Congress. He should savor his victory: He knows the road ahead will be steep and that his win was the means to an end, not an end in itself. The real work now begins.
It is hard to imagine the distance Mr. Obama has traveled to the presidency. As he said in his victory speech, he was never "the likeliest candidate for his office." He is a first-term senator, who five years ago was just a state senator. His journey took him from Hawaii to Indonesia and back, to California and then on to New York and Chicago. It included the rarefied air of Harvard Law School and the gritty streets of Chicago's poorest communities.
He burst onto the national political stage during the 2004 Democratic Convention with an eloquent and electrifying address to the party faithful. He launched his campaign in 2006, a long-shot bid that ultimately prevailed over such luminaries as Sen. Hillary Clinton and his eventual running mate, Sen. Joe Biden. His victory in the primaries and his landslide win Tuesday are a testimony to his vision, his perseverance and the extraordinary political machine he and his team put together. While the symbolism of his win is important, so too are the mechanics that made it possible.