The end of a two-year campaign and the election of the nation’s first African-American president marks for Democrats a historic milestone and for Republicans a time to begin again. Without color in the evangelical movement, “it’s going to be a rough road ahead" | Jamie Dean
Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
When Wilfredo De Jesus learned that Sen. Barack Obama seized enough electoral votes to become the nation's first African-American president, the Hispanic minister was standing a few feet from the podium where Obama greeted an estimated 240,000 jubilant supporters in Chicago's Grant Park on an unseasonably warm election night. "It was surreal," De Jesus told WORLD.
The surreal evening marked the end of a grueling two-year battle for both Obama and Sen. John McCain, and the end of a journey for De Jesus: The Assemblies of God pastor served as the sole evangelical on a 15-member Hispanic advisory board to the Obama campaign, and spent months trying to persuade social conservatives to support the Democratic candidate.
Ms. Right
Despite controversy, Palin remains GOP hopeful for many. | Jamie Dean
RALEIGH, N.C.—Seven hours before Gov. Sarah Palin took the stage for a pre-election event at the Exposition Center in Raleigh, N.C., Diane Byrd was already in line. Dressed in a full-length Uncle Sam suit, and covered with McCain-Palin buttons, Byrd explained why she waited all day to see the vice presidential candidate: "She's brought an enthusiasm back to the Republican Party that has been gone since Reagan. And no matter how this election turns out, that won't go away."
Four days later, the Alaska governor returned to her home state after conceding defeat with Sen. John McCain. But enthusiasm for the Republican was still fresh: Scores of supporters greeted Palin at the Anchorage airport with chants of "2012!" When reporters on the icy tarmac asked the governor if she would consider a run for the presidency in four years, Palin demurred: "We'll see what happens then."
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COVER STORY ARTICLE |
Escalating opposition
