Obama defeats McCain

The Independent deemed Obama's victory a "landslide."

Political leaders across the world sighed with relief, according to the Financial Times and the Berliner Zeitung (here and here). Obama's victory has been identified as a signal that the United States is indeed changing and that this change will be for the better, according to Le Monde.

The EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso wants President Obama to work with the EU to produce a second New Deal, according to the Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung.

The Berliner Zeitung reports that the German economic elite expect a better showing from President Obama than they would have gotten from President McCain and have gotten from President Bush.

The New York Times assessed Obama's victory thusly:

The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama's call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country [emphasis added].

The Washington Post concurs, writing:

The historic Election Day brought millions of new and sometimes tearful voters, long lines at polling places nationwide, and celebrations on street corners and in front of the White House. It ushered in a new era of Democratic dominance in Congress, even though the party's quest for the 60 votes needed for a veto-proof majority in the Senate remained in doubt early today. In the House, Democrats made major gains, adding to their already sizable advantage and returning them to a position of power that predates the 1994 Republican revolution.