Obama Builds Strong Lead, McCain Campaign Grows Pessimistic

World | November 5, 2008, Wednesday // 00:00
Obama Builds Strong Lead, McCain Campaign Grows Pessimistic: Obama Builds Strong Lead, McCain Campaign Grows Pessimistic A crowd expected to top 70,000 began gathering early Tuesday night in Grant Park in Chicago, where Obama has scheduled an address. Photo by BBC

According to CNN's latest projections, the US Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has 207 electoral votes and Republican John McCain has 135.

Obama's projected win in Ohio, won by the Republicans in 2004, is a crucial stepping stone to the White House. Obama also took Pennsylvania - one of John McCain's main targets.

The Democrat now needs only to win California and a couple of other solid Democratic states. Political observers say anything else would be a major shock.

A crowd expected to top 70,000 began gathering early Tuesday night in Grant Park in Chicago, where Obama scheduled an address at what he hoped would be a victory rally. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to watch on a large television screen outside the park. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said he would not be surprised if a million Chicagoans jammed the streets.

The huge crowd is already eagerly anticipating Obama's appearance.

McCain chose a smaller venue for his celebration, a ballroom in the Arizona Biltmore hotel in Phoenix. As supporters began filing in, Travis Junion, a staffer for the campaign, said he was glad it was all over.

In interviews with NBC News, aides to McCain acknowledged the projections, saying they were proud that they had put up a good fight in "historically difficult times."

A senior adviser said McCain himself was "fine" but that he felt "he let his staff and supporters down."

Regardless who wins, the new US President will have a strongly Democratic Congress. The Democrats won definitive majorities in both the House and the Senate, and all that remains to be decided was whether the party could reach a procedurally important 60% "supermajority" in either or both.

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