Wrightstown Post Gazette - Supporters Celebrate Obama's 'Historic' Victory

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Wrightstown Post Gazette - Supporters Celebrate Obama's 'Historic' Victory

In a history-making Tuesday primary night, Barack Obama became the first black U.S. presidential nominee of a major party.

Obama, an Illinois senator, emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after a long, seemingly endless nomination contest against New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, an equally historic candidate.

Obama's victory was praised by Wisconsin Democrats. It was chided by the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which touted the GOP's own presumptive nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, as being a better candidate for the nation's top job.

"Obviously, from the earliest days of the Iowa primary, people have had a strong sense that there was a mood of change in the country," said Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat who endorsed Obama earlier in the campaign.

"To have the first African-American nominee is historic. Even beyond that, this campaign has been about change, and the country right now is badly in need of that. I'm really pleased that he will be the nominee," Doyle said.

"It is apparent that Senator Obama's message of change and hope transcends race, class, gender and old political divisions," said U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, the state's first black member of Congress.

"What Senator Obama has demonstrated is that when you work hard and work with people regardless of background you can make a difference. It is that difference that Senator Obama will bring to our country and the presidency next January."

Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Wisconsin GOP, said that for over a year, Democrats have questioned Obama's readiness to govern, his judgment and his leadership qualities.

"I am confident that as Wisconsin voters learn more about both candidates, Senator McCain will prevail in November because he has the experience, judgment and character of a true leader who can move our country forward," Jefferson said.

Obama won the Democratic nomination while avoiding race as the primary reason for his candidacy — this despite racial overtones that came up early in the primary season.

The nomination also speaks to the state of the Democratic Party and its electorate, said Charles Franklin, a political expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"For the first time, we've had contenders who are a woman and African-American who have risen to political positions that made their run credible and reasonable," he said.

"Whatever people have said about Hillary Clinton, I don't think anyone has disputed the notion that she was probably qualified (to become president)."

Obama's candidacy runs in sharp contrast to that of Democratic presidential contenders like Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988 and the Rev. Al Sharpton in 2004, whose base was made up of social movement supporters, Franklin said. Jackson and Sharpton are African-Americans; neither has held elected office.

Obama, on the other hand, has campaigned on a theme of change.

"Whether it works out or whether it is a variant on old politics remains to be seen," Franklin said.

Kamlesh Varma, 63, remembers being captivated by Obama's message from the day she watched him on the Oprah Winfrey Show early on the campaign trail.

The nation is ready for change, and the change Obama represents transcends far beyond color, said Varma, who heads the Appleton-based organization Toward Community: Unity in Diversity.

"It reminds me of India," she said of her native country.

"The Gandhis ruled for so many years. The Nehru family was almost like a dynasty. It was a big change if somebody (else) came to power."

So, too, an Obama candidacy means an end to the Clinton and Bush era of the past 20 years. "We all have big hopes for Obama, that he will do something for the country," Varma said.

For older people who experienced growing up in the South, the political moment is profound.

There aren't enough words to describe the feeling, said Ron Dunlap, the Appleton Area School District's minority services coordinator.

"When you talk with people like my mother, who is 85 and grew up in (the) Jim Crow (era in) Louisiana, this is astounding," said Dunlap, who is black.

"I remember talking with her several months ago. I asked her, 'Did you ever think you'd live long enough to see a black man and a woman running for the highest office in the country?' and she said no."

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