Clinton rolls to reelection

The president becameThe president becamethe first DemocratThe president becamethe first Democratsince FDR to win aThe president becamethe first Democratsince FDR to win asecond term in office. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- For Democrats, victory meant the end to long months of anticipation. For Arkansas residents, it meant an occasion for pride in the triumph of a native son. For Bill Clinton, it meant another chance -- four more years to tackle issues of crime, health care and education. Victory inspired different feelings in those present at the Old State Capitol building in Little Rock. But all shared one common emotion -- euphoria. Amidst shouts of "We want Bill," Clinton emerged from the capitol building at midnight EST and stood at the same podium where he announced his candidacy in 1991 and accepted his first victory a year later. This time, Clinton welcomed thunderous applause from a crowd galvanized by his defeat of Republican candidate Bob Dole. Clinton received 375 electoral votes -- and 50 percent of the popular vote -- to Dole's 148. Dole received 41 percent of the popular vote while Reform Party candidate Ross Perot garnered 9 percent. Clinton, the first Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to win a second term, won praise from Vice President Al Gore for solidifying the resolve of the American people toward change. Facing a divided and Republican-dominated Congress, Clinton emphasized the need for unity within the American government. "The challenges we face are not Democratic challenges or Republican challenges -- they are American challenges," Clinton said. "It is time to put country ahead of party. "When we are divided, we defeat ourselves," he added. "But when we join ourselves to build our families, our communities and our country, America always wins." Clinton focused on this unity as the key to future American success. "When we roll up our sleeves and work together, America always wins," Clinton said. "And my friends, America is going to keep on winning these next four years." Riotous excitement broke out at 7 p.m. EST when the first results came in declaring Clinton victorious in New Hampshire and Vermont. And the fever pitch in Little Rock never slowed. An hour later, Clinton was reported to be a mere 72 electoral votes shy of a second term. By 9 p.m., it was all over. The major networks all declared Clinton victorious. Moments later, the electoral total flashed on a large screen -- Clinton had obtained the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Just before 11 p.m. EST, Dole called Clinton to concede defeat. During the phone call, Clinton thanked Dole for his contribution to the American people. The Clinton supporters who had packed the area near the Old State House were overjoyed. Earlier in the day, about 500 supporters greeted Clinton upon his arrival in Arkansas -- a much larger number than expected, said Arkansas Press Secretary Steve Harrelson. The president's only stop of the day was at Union Station in downtown Little Rock, where he cast his ballot at 12:30 p.m. EST before a crowd that packed the station and the surrounding area. Heath Hanson, a Little Rock high school student, held a lone Dole/Kemp poster outside the station yesterday morning. "[Support of Dole] is a very unpopular opinion in Little Rock," Hanson said. "I got a lot of strange looks. I held my sign in the middle of a whole crowd of people coming to vote for Clinton and they all just laughed at me." Voter turnout across Arkansas was heavy, with huge numbers of voters turning out prior to 9 a.m. to cast their ballots before the start of the work day, Harrelson said. He added that at many polling locations, long lines formed before polls opened at 7 a.m. "I went to vote at 7 a.m. and the line was two blocks long," said Little Rock resident Bob Kelley. Many in Little Rock said the decisive win assured Clinton's place in history. As Gore said: "The man from Hope, tonight becomes a man of history."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.