RICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP):

An emotional Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday hailed the election of Democrat Barack Obama as the first black United States president as an "extraordinary step forward" in efforts to overcome racism.

"As an African American, I'm especially proud," Rice told reporters of the election Tuesday of Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.

Hours after Obama easily defeated Republican John McCain in a triumph that reflected Americans' weariness with eight years of President George W. Bush administration rule, Bush's chief diplomat said that the US has "been through a long journey, in terms of overcoming wounds and making race not the factor in our lives.

"That work is not done, but yesterday was obviously an extraordinary step forward," Rice said.

Pledges smooth transition

Obama's first task will be to begin building a Democratic administration that will help him make good on the promises of change that carried him to the White House. He will become president in January.

Rice pledged that the State Department would work to make sure the transition to an Obama administration is smooth.

In electing Obama, American voters broke with a sad history of racial divisions.

Rice called Obama inspirational and said that McCain was gracious in defeat.

America "continues to surprise," Rice said. "You just know that Americans are not going to be satisfied until they really do form that perfect union. And while the perfect union may never be in sight, we just keep working at it and trying."