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Fitial congratulates Obama, local Dems cheer
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Posted on Nov 05 2008
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial yesterday offered his congratulations to president-elect Barack Obama and vice president-elect Joseph Biden on winning the U.S. elections, while Democrats in the Northern Marianas cheered their candidates’ victory.
“I congratulate president-elect Obama and I look forward to establishing good working relationships with his new administration,” said Fitial, who helped establish the Commonwealth’s Covenant Party in 2001 after many years of membership with the NMI Republican Party.
“I am optimistic that Obama’s victory will lead to positive change for the people of the CNMI, given president-elect Obama’s history and relationships with the people of Hawaii and the Asia-Pacific region,” Fitial added.
U.S. Democratic voters living on Saipan are jubilant about the Obama win.
Adam Cafege, who voted in Hawaii where Obama grew up, partied with friends last night to celebrate the Democrats’ triumph. “I feel that this is pivotal, transformational moment in American history. It shows that we’ve evolved as a nation. I have never been more proud to be an American,” he said.
Angelo Villagomez, who cast his vote for Obama in Florida, said, “It was a well fought campaign. Obama and [John] McCain are both honorable men. But the American people decided they wanted change,” he said.
For her part, former New York resident Lori Serna said Obama’s victory reminded her of the day her first child was born. “I just couldn’t believe it. That how I felt today when I saw Obama had won. I just started crying and laughing. It’s a wonderful day. It’s a day full of hope not just for America, but for the rest of the world,” she said.
