The two-year presidential campaign may have seemed as though it never would end, but it's now over. Barack Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, beat John McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona. Obama will be inaugurated Jan. 20 as our nation's 44th president -- and its first black chief executive.
The president-elect's party has an overwhelming majority of seats in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House -- giving Democrats control of Congress and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was president.

Results appear at newspaper web sites and all major TV networks. For the first time, The Associated Press provides live video coverage of results through an online network that includes the Web sites of 2,000 news partners.
Perhaps the most entertaining coverage was televised on cable's Comedy Channel, where Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert hosted a live installment of "Indecision 2008: America's Choice."

Turnout reached an estimated 64 percent of eligible voters, making 2008 the highest percentage turnout in generations. Millions of young voters registered this year, pushing their age group's participation to a new high. The percentage of eligible voters under 30 who cast ballots also rose in 2004 and 2006 after two decades of decline.
An AP-Yahoo News Poll conducted last month found that among likely voters aged 18-29, 60 percent supported Obama, 33 percent John McCain and 5 percent Ralph Nader. Obama received rock star-level receptions on college campuses across the country, drawing huge crowds that sometimes exceeded 15,000.

Student says: "You can't turn your head [on campus] without seeing something about the election. I think the youth are going to come out in incredible numbers." -- Hannah Lieberman, University of Michigan junior

Journalist says: "As politics has expanded to more platforms -- blogs, YouTube, comedy shows -- the old press has followed, raising its metabolism and sharpening its tone to compete." -- James Poniewozik, Time magazine columnist