After countless months of debates, campaigns and drama, a conclusion was finally reached last night in the 2008 presidential election when Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States.

John McCain delivered his concession speech in Phoenix, Ariz., congratulating Obama and giving recognition to the nation’s historical moment: the first black commander-in-chief, and for the first time since 1995, control of the White House and Congress by the Democrats.

The popular vote was close, with 51 percent to Obama and 48 percent to McCain, according to The Seattle Times. Obama claimed Washington State with 55 percent of votes.

With his two young daughters and wife standing close beside him, Obama addressed a cheering audience in Chicago, Ill., proclaiming, “Change has come to America.”

The audience responded, “Yes, we can.”

On a local level, reactions from disappointed McCain supporters and ecstatic Obama supporters reverberated across campus. The Young Democrats of the UW (YD) held their official celebration party at an apartment building near 15th and 52nd. The College Republicans also held an election party in Bellevue. John Fay, finance chair of the College Republicans, said the group didn’t want to speak with press at the time.

Former YD president Max Wagner had been watching the news and following polls all day.

“It was a big surprise when Fox News called Ohio for Obama,” said Wagner, who is also a political columnist for The Daily. “That was a huge moment because at that point [Obama’s victory] was inevitable.”

It has been a busy past few days for the YD. Last night, many of the members campaigned for the gubernatorial race, while some also campaigned in the battleground state of Colorado this past weekend.

“From here, we still have a long way to go,” Wagner said. “We’re going to celebrate this victory, but we need to make sure the people elected keep their promises.”

For the Democrats, the elect include more than just the incoming president. Incumbent Gov. Chris Gregoire had a projected victory last night over challenger Dino Rossi, although Rossi had not conceded at press time.

With so much support amassed by the Young Democrats during the past few months, Gregoire’s projected victory and Obama’s victory last night will give the group momentum as it plans events and sets goals for the rest of the year.

“Obviously we got a ton of new members because of this election, and we really want to organize our resources to help progressive causes on campus,” said Quinn Majeski, vice president of membership for the YD.

As Obama supporters celebrate their victory, McCain supporters find themselves contemplating the implications of this historic election.

“I felt that, for a conservative, [McCain] was too liberal; he didn’t really stick to his party backing, and in a two party system, in order to win, you really need to do that,” sophomore Eric Starke said. “I didn’t think he would necessarily be effective — plus there was the fact that he voted with Bush 90 percent of the time, and yet he was trying to distinguish himself.”

For other supporters, McCain inspired respect and earned their support.

“I do pride him for sticking to what he felt was the way to run his campaign in terms of sticking to his military background and talking about his service to the country, which I do value immensely in a presidential candidate,” sophomore Jordan Villeneuve said. “He was trying to win an election that was an uphill battle the entire time, so I pride him for doing that.”

Some McCain supporters are expectedly apprehensive about Obama.

“I think the outcome [of the election] was sort of set in stone from the beginning, to be honest,” Villeneuve said. “I’m not sure if the whole idea of ‘change we can believe in’ and ‘hope for tomorrow’ or whatever Obama was preaching specifically was the best bet because, in my mind, change isn’t a destination and hope isn’t a strategy, but I think people really clung on to that.”

However, other McCain backers are cautiously supportive of Obama.

“I am very cautiously optimistic that [Obama winning the election] could be a good thing,” graduate student Erik Sortomme said. “I was tepid for McCain because I knew a lot of his weaknesses as well as his strengths, and so now I don’t have to deal with John McCain’s weaknesses. But now the country has to deal with what Obama’s going to do. It could be different, and it could work well, but it could also be far from good, and it could make things worse. We’ll have to see.”

News editor Kim Lee contributed to this story.

Reach reporters Casey Smith and Anthony Michael Erickson at news@dailyuw.com.