In what observers were calling a historic election, Senator Barack Obama, D-Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, in the race to be the 44th President of the United States. Senator McCain called Obama to congratulate him on his victory and to assure him that he would help him in the future.

President Bush also called to congratulate the president elect

Major difference-making states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio all went to Obama, who will become the first African-American president in United States history. The Pennsylvania loss was particularly damaging to McCain who, along with his running mate Sarah Palin, had spent many days shortly before the election in the state hoping to turn the historically blue state to red. In the end he simply came up short.

Experts say McCain, who acknowledged Tuesday morning that he was the underdog, lost votes due to voter concerns about the economy, their distaste for his running mate Sarah Palin, and the fact that this just wasn’t a good election year to be a Republican.

McCain took Louisiana with 61 percent of the vote.

The Post Signal will have more on the presidential election in our next edition.