DES MOINES - Young Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who Thursday won the first hurdle in the long 2008 White House race, said Iowans had voted for "hope over fear" and vowed change was on its way.
"They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high," the 46-year-old Obama told a rejoicing crowd after he won the Democratic Iowa caucuses, beating formidable rival Hillary Clinton.
"They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do.
"We are choosing hope over fear. We're choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America," he told a clapping, cheering crowd.
Obama has campaigned hard as the man who will bring a breath of fresh air to the jaded corridors of power, untainted by big interests and lobbyist groups.
"This was the moment when we finally beat back the policies of fear and doubt and cynicism, the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up. This was the moment," he told his supporters.
"Years from now, you'll look back and you'll say that this was the moment, this was the place where America remembered what it means to hope," he added.
Clinton argues that as the former first lady she brings a wealth of experience to the White House as the United States confronts a multitude of challenges from the Iraq war to national security issues and an economic downturn.
jkb/mac
01/04/2008 05:09 GMT