Party in the park waits for 'President' Obama

Tens of thousands of Barack Obama’s supporters in the senator’s home town of Chicago gathered for a huge election-night rally to mark a historic victory celebration.

Many were hoping to be a part of something that would be remembered for generations.

“I want her to be able to tell her children when history was made, she was there,” said Alnita Tillman, 50, who kept her 16-year-old daughter, Raven, out of school so they could be at the city’s Grant Park by 8am, more than 10 hours before the gates opened.

A resident of Chicago’s South Side like Mr Obama, Mrs Tillman had a coveted ticket to the rally in hand and high expectations for the man who was seeking to become the first black US president.

“The hope I have for Obama ... it’s in the African-American males being able to see what they can be, what they can do,” she said.

The central Chicago park – where police fought anti-war protesters during the turbulent 1968 Democratic convention – was transformed on an unseasonably balmy night by white tents and a stage lined with American flags and hung with red, white and blue bunting.

Lighted windows in the skyscrapers lining the park added to the festive atmosphere, spelling out “USA” and “Vote 2008”.

Activist Jesse Jackson, also in the rally crowd, called the election “a peaceful revolution”.

“Tonight is an extraordinary celebration of an American story,” said the Chicago Democrat who won re-election yesterday. “Barack Obama has obviously engaged the American people.”

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley predicted an exciting night.

“I think everybody will be like a kid,” he said. “Everyone wants to be part of American history.”

That sense of history was palpable across the city, particularly in the poorest neighbourhoods, where people had streamed into polling places to cast their votes for the man who once walked their streets as a community organiser.

At Grant Park, the hopeful waited in long lines – one for ticket holders who would get a glimpse of the candidate on stage, the other for those in a spillover section of the park who could watch him on a giant screen.

Stephanie Smith, 27, and her husband flew in from Nashville, Tennessee, and staked out a spot on the pavement with folding chairs and a box of doughnuts early in the morning.

Even without tickets, Mrs Smith said it would be worth it to be standing in the park to hear the words: “Our next President of the United States is Barack Obama.”