news-record.com

Yes he could.

First-term Illinois Sen. Barack Obama rode the winds of a perfect storm to a historic victory Tuesday night.

The son of a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, Obama has become the first African American president-elect of the United States.

Obama, 47, won because of an uncommon mix of charisma and broad appeal, a deft strategy, an astounding $600 million in campaign fundraising and a formidable organization.

He won because he energized new and young voters in a manner rarely before seen.

He won because he remained unflappable during the heat of an epic and exhausting campaign.

He won because he was able to transcend race among many American voters.

And he won because he was able to stretch the electoral playing field into traditionally "red" states like Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina, where a razor-thin outcome was still in doubt at press time -- and where the enthusiasm he generated helped fuel Democrat Kay Hagan's stunning upset of Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

This state figured prominently as well in Obama's hard-fought primary win over the presumed favorite for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. Obama bested Clinton in the May 6 North Carolina primary, a race she desperately needed to blunt his momentum.

We are not used to mattering this much in either a primary or a general election in North Carolina. We mattered big time in 2008.

That's why Obama spoke in Greensboro on March 26 and Sept. 27. And why Obama, his wife Michelle and his running mate, Joe Biden, spent so many hours crisscrossing the state. So did McCain and his vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, who spoke to enthusiastic Tar Heel crowds. The state's 15 electoral votes were a precious target for both camps.

And this was a fascinating, exhilarating, exasperating race that only seemed to last forever.

Sometimes it spoke to our baser instincts: the incessant whispers that Obama was a Muslim. The barrage of negative ads by both camps. Ugly rumors that strained the bounds of decency and credulity on the Internet.

Still, this campaign involved two good and honorable men and appealed in greater measure to the hopes and dreams of all Americans.

It makes a powerful and lasting statement to the nation and the world about the promise this country holds for all of its citizens.