Washington/Chicago - Democratic candidate Barack Obama has won a historic US presidential election, television networks projected Tuesday, making him the first African-American ever to lead the United States.

Obama, 47, had a commanding victory over Republican rival John McCain, 72, capturing a series of reliable Republican states including Virginia and Ohio that voted for President George W Bush in the last two elections.

Washington - Democrat Barack Obama was elected the next president of the United States over Republican John McCain, capturing the 270 votes needed to prevail in the Electoral College, according to projections by major US news networks.

The complex electoral college system awards each of the 50 states' and the District of Columbia's electoral votes to the candidate who prevails in the state's popular vote. A candidate needs 270 votes to clinch the White House.

San Francisco - An 11-year-old white girl came home from school in rural California a few days before the election quoting a slogan she had heard from one of her friends: "Rosa sat, so Martin could walk, so Barack could run, so we could fly."

That saying poignantly encapsulates the history of the civil rights movement and the meaning of Barack Obama's groundbreaking presidential victory, summing up the movement that has transformed both the law and society in the 53 years since Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Chicago - The T-shirts say it all: "A new hope. I was the change happened at Grant Park."

With presidential victory slipping further out of Republican John McCain's hands as the historic election night wore on Tuesday, Democrat Barack Obama was poised on the verge of a victory that could reshape the American political landscape.

Washington (dpa) - Democrat Barack Obama boosted his lead over Republican John McCain in the electoral college, claiming 207 votes in elections Tuesday after capturing the key battleground state of Ohio, according to projections by major US news networks.

The complex electoral college system awards each of the 50 states' and the District of Columbia's electoral votes to the candidate who prevails in the state's popular vote. A candidate needs 270 votes to clinch the White House.

At least two television networks have projected the winner in the following states: <#

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