The results are in: Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States. This win makes him the first African-American chief executive in the 232-year history of the country.

While handily taking the New England states, Obama gained the lead in the race by also winning the hotly contested Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Western states helped put him firmly in the victory column, and the announcement that he had the necessary electoral-college votes was made immediately after the polls closed in California at 11 p.m. ET.

Though race was a theme that wafted throughout a tough fight against Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin, most political pundits credited the poor economy as the central factor in the minds of Americans once they closed the curtains in polling booths.

McCain said he’d called Obama to offer his congratulations, and acknowledged the historic nature of his rival’s win. “This is an historic election and I recognize the special significance it has for African Americans,” said McCain. “I have always believed that America offers opportunities for those who have the will to seize it … Let there be no reason for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth.”

President Bush also called Obama to congratulate him on his victory.

Obama’s onetime rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, said in statement, “Tonight, we are celebrating an historic victory for the American people. This was a long and hard fought campaign but the result was well worth the wait.”

In a presidential campaign that stretched over two years, Obama triumphed with the help of early support from Oprah Winfrey and endorsements from a variety of Hollywood stars like Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon. Only last weekend, he was serenaded in concert by Bruce Springsteen.

‘Transformational Figure’

Since first appearing on the national stage only four years ago, when he walloped Illinois radio host Alan Keyes to become a U.S. senator, the Chicago Democrat, 47, has emerged as his generation’s political rock star, forging a path to the White House with sharp focus and stunning speed.

Always, it seemed, there were huge crowds gathered to see the charismatic candidate, whom Colin Powell, in his own endorsement of Obama, labeled “a transformational figure.”

But there were tough personal times, too, such as when Obama broke off campaigning for two days in the final stretch to visit his gravely ill grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, 86, in Hawaii. Dunham died two days before the election, never living to see Obama rise to this pinnacle.

The president-elect takes with him to the White House on Inauguration Day Jan. 20 his wife of 16 years, Michelle Obama, and their two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

Obama is expected to make his victory speech at a rally in Chicago’s Grant Park, where 70,000 guests received coveted tickets to the event - and up to 1 million people could show up, according to Chicago authorities.

Read more about the new president in the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

Source:www.People.com

With nine days left before the presidential election, actor Matt Damon is trying to keep Americans fired up and eager to vote.

Damon is participating in the Florida VoteFest ‘08 Sunday and Monday, a statewide initiative to encourage people to vote early.

“I took time off from acting until the end of the year to be with my family and enjoy our new daughter,” Damon told PEOPLE at a jam-packed Barack Obama rally Sunday in West Palm Beach, Fla. “But it is very important for me to do what I can to help the Obama campaign so people will go out and vote. We need change in this country and now is the time to be sure that happens.”

“I learned that only 10 percent of the people at the food bank were actually homeless,” Damon told the crowd at the rally. “And 90 percent were people who work and play by the rules yet can’t afford to feed their kids. We have to change that.”

The actor, who is involved in VoteFest ‘08 with actresses Alicia Silverstone and Kerry Washington, will travel by car to several south Florida cities, including Miami, Hollywood and west Fort Lauderdale, talking to the crowds and explaining to children how important it is for their parents to vote.

“I cannot tell you how great it is to be home with my family and enjoy our new daughter, %26#91;2-month-old Gia%26#93;,” Damon tells PEOPLE. “But it is my responsibility to thank the American people for taking an interest in the political process. And in the next two days, I am asking them not to get complacent.”

Source:www.People.com

Matt Damon’s children were born into privilege, but they’ll learn about those less fortunate, the actor vows.

“It’s a hard thing to explain to a kid,” Damon said at San Francisco fund raiser for the OneXOne children’s charity Thursday. “And it is also unbelievable the way other kids are forced to live.”

Damon, who’s known for his charity work, said his daughters may well accompany him on some of his overseas missions.

Damon is the sole male in a household of four females. His wife,

Luciana, gave birth to their daughter, Gia, over the summer. She joined big sisters Isabella, 2, and Alexia, 10.

“It’s great,” Damon said about being outnumbered at home. “It is really great.”

• Reporting by JAMIE FROEHLING

Source:www.People.com

Spending some time helping out a good cause, Matt Damon was spotted at the ONEXONE Children’s Charity San Francisco Launch last night (October 23).

The “Bourne Ultimatum” stud was looking hunky in a dark suit as he schmoozed on the red carpet outside the Concourse Exhibition Center.

And Mr. Damon was in good company, as celebrities like David Arquette, Josh Groban, and Wyclef Jean all showed up to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged kids.

According to their website, ONEXONE is a non-profit foundation committed to supporting, preserving and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, the United States, and around the world. Through an annual campaign, ONEXONE is dedicated to helping create a world where children can live safely and with dignity.

Source:www.celebrity-gossip.net

Matt Damon took a trip the Caribbean this weekend, but not to shoot a movie or relax. He went to Haiti with buddy Wyclef Jean to deliver food to hurricane victims.

Damon and Jean gave out bags of rice and beans and cans of cooking oil to hundreds of Haitians near the town of Cabaret on Saturday. At one point, the truck they were in got stuck in a ditch, so they handed out the food on the roadside.

The Haitian-born Jean, who founded his own Yele Haiti charity, was the star of the day - hardly anybody in the crowd recognized Damon, but he was fine with that. “It’s nice, it’s really easy to move through a crowd like this,” Damon told an Associated Press reporter who accompanied them.

“Hopefully we can make enough noise that people will pay attention,” Damon said. “I truly believe in the people in my country.”

Kathy Griffin might need to consider adding another member to her staff just to carry around her Emmy awards.

The comedian won her second Emmy on Saturday, picking up the trophy for best reality program for her Bravo hit My Life On the D-List. And, true to form, she delivered another memorable - and bleepable - acceptance speech.

“Well, well, well! Here we go again, f—–ers,” Griffin said, gamely accepting the award at the Creative Arts Emmys held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

“I’m not going to tell anyone to suck it,” she said, referencing her speech from 2007 in which she infamously told Jesus to “suck it.” “I would make love to this thing if I could.”

Griffin was also nominated for a stand up comedy special, though she lost the award to Don Rickles, with whom she is presenting an award at the Primetime Emmys next weekend. “Can you believe it? I’m in heaven,” she said of presenting with Rickles. “It’s what should have been the Obama/Hillary ticket of comedy. I’m very excited about that and being with him and standing next to him. I just love him.”

Griffin was not the only salty celebrity to collect an award at the ceremony hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke. Sarah Silverman won an Emmy for her parody music video “I’m F—– Matt Damon.”

Also honored at Saturday’s ceremony: Cynthia Nixon, who was named best guest actress in a drama for her role as a psychopathic mother on NBC’s Law %26 Order: Special Victims Unit and Tim Conway, who was named guest actor in a comedy series for 30 Rock.

And for the tenth year in a row, The Simpsons was named the best half-hour animated show.

The Creative Arts Emmys will air on Sept. 20 on E!, the day before the Primetime Emmy Awards will air live on ABC.

Reporting By Elaine Aradillas, Jed Dreben and Cynthia Wang

Sarah Silverman may have won an Emmy award for a song boasting of a romance with Matt Damon, but it was her ex-boyfriend, Jimmy Kimmel, whom the comedian thanked from the stage.

“Let’s be honest, Matt Damon had very little to do with this being popular,” Silverman, 37, said while accepting her award at the Creative Arts Emmys for the salty music video “I’m F—— Matt Damon” at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

“Thanks to the person for whom this whole video was made: Jimmy Kimmel, who broke my heart - ohh, who’ll always have a place in my heart,” Silverman continued.

Performed as a joke with Damon, the song featured Silverman singing about cheating on Kimmel, her then boyfriend of five years, with the actor.

Kimmel and Silverman split in July before her Emmy nominations were announced.

While she has not spoken at length publicly about the split, in August, Silverman made a reference to her break-up during a comedy gig at West Hollywood’s Largo at the Coronet, telling the crowd, “Did someone tell you I’m going through a hard time?”

In her speech Saturday, Silverman also thanked her cowriters and joked, “this makes all the, ‘Hey, I’m f—— Matt Damon, too,’ totally worth it.”

The Creative Arts Emmys air on E! Saturday Sept. 20. The Primetime Emmys air on ABC Sept. 21.

• Reporting by Elaine Aradillas and Cynthia Wang

Is Matt Damon’s daughter a child prodigy? Not even three weeks after the birth of little Gia, the Oscar winner says his newborn is already “smiling.”

Still, the proud papa admits, it could just be gas. “She smiles normally when she goes to the bathroom,” Damon, 37, told PEOPLE in Toronto Monday night before hosting the annual OneXOne charity gala to fight against child poverty. “That’s natural.”

Gia joins big sisters Isabella, 2, and Alexia, 10. So how is PEOPLE’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive handling fatherhood this time around?

“I sort of knew what to expect with the third girl,” he said. “But I’m still on high alert all the time.”

RELATED GALLERIES:
• See the cutest celebrity babies on the covers of PEOPLE
• See Matt Damon’s SEXIEST moment!

It’s been a week since the birth of his new daughter Gia and what is Matt Damon doing when he’s not on diaper duty?

He’s working his thumbs to the bone to keep his old buddy Ben Affleck up to date on all of the details.

“I’ve kind of been texting him back and forth, and he’s doing great and %26#91;wife%26#93; Lucy is doing great,” Affleck, 36, told PEOPLE on Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention.

Still, Affleck’s mind was not far from his old Cambridge pal, who is fast becoming odd man out in his Miami home, what with the addition of little Gia to his strictly female brood of wife Luciana and their daughters Isabella, 2, and Alexia, 10.

Not that Damon - PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive - has any problem with that.

“Anybody who has a child is excited, I think, no matter what the gender is. They are thrilled,” says Affleck. “The thing that people really want, when you get down to it, is a healthy child.”

It’s another girl for Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana, his rep tells PEOPLE.

“Matt and Lucy Damon had a baby girl named Gia Zavala on Wednesday, Aug. 20th. Everyone’s doing great,” Damon’s rep, Jennifer Allen, tells PEOPLE. “She is a healthy baby girl.”

The newest addition is the third little girl in the Damon household, joining big sisters Isabella, 2, and Alexia, 10.

Damon recently joked about living with so many females, telling USA Today from his home in Miami, “I’m so outnumbered down here, it’s crazy.”

Damon is a “phenomenal” father, his close pal George Clooney told PEOPLE in 2007. “He absolutely adores those kids. He’s doing it really well.”

Damon, PEOPLE’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive, is currently preparing for re-shoots on his thriller Green Zone. But after that, the actor will enjoy some down time with his growing brood.

“%26#91;I’m%26#93; taking the rest of the year off,” he told USA Today. “I’m just hanging out with my family.”

RELATED GALLERIES:
• See the cutest celebrity babies on the covers of PEOPLE
• See Matt Damon as PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive