Obama cruises in region, Maryland, U.S.

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by ANGELA BRECK Supporters for Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden wave to traffic along St. Charles Parkway on Saturday during a campaign rally at the Obama headquarters. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama rolled to victory in Maryland on his way to making history as the first African-American to win the presidency.

Preliminary results as of 11 p.m. gave the Illinois Democrat 277 Electoral College votes, seven more than needed to win a bruising race over U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that was hard-fought down to the final days.

In the end, Obama (D-Ill.) rode a wave of anti-Republican sentiment and captured enough swing states to claim victory in the seemingly never-ending presidential campaign. Polls prior to Election Day indicated that the recent economic meltdown hurt McCain more than Obama, who used the "change" message that carried him through the Democratic primary with more success than McCain.

There was no surprise in heavily Democratic Maryland, where Obama received 60 percent of the vote to 39 percent for McCain with 45 percent of precincts reporting. Maryland has not given its 10 electoral votes to a Republican presidential nominee since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Obama prevailed in Charles garnering 62 percent of the vote to McCain's 36 percent, with third party candidates taking less than 1 percent apiece.

In Calvert, McCain won 53 percent to 46 percent, and in St. Mary's McCain won 58 to 41 percent.

At the Charles County Democratic Central Committee celebration party at the American Legion post in La Plata, Charles County Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D) was upbeat shortly after news outlets called key swing state Ohio for Obama.

"It's sort of anticlimactic," Hodge said. "Here we are at 10 p.m. and it's out of John McCain's reach at this point. As Democrats, we have a huge opportunity and a huge responsibility."

Voters eager to participate in the historic election pitting the first African-American nominee and a prominent Vietnam War veteran jammed polling places most of Tuesday. Precincts in Southern Maryland reported few problems and potentially record-breaking turnout figures once all ballots are tallied.

Across the state, voter registration shot up since January, with Democrats increasing their more than 2-to-1 advantage over Republicans. Democrats in Charles County have nearly twice as many registered voters as Republicans, who signed up only about 1,100 new voters since the beginning of the year, compared to more than 8,200 Democrats.

Maryland will look to take advantage of having a Democrat back in the White House. All five of its statewide officials – governor, comptroller, attorney general and two U.S. senators – are Democrats.

At least six of its eight congressmen, are also Democrats, possibly seven, pending the outcome of the close 1st Congressional District race between Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Baltimore County) and Frank Kratovil, the Democratic Queen Anne County state's attorney.

abrody@somdnews.com