"America saw in Barack a little bit of themselves. There's the physical, he's part black he's part white, part Kansan, part Hawaiian, and so I think Americans of all stretch can relate to that," Nick Banton of Ardmore said.
John Wagner, a lawyer from Ardmore, was stunned to learn Obama got more white votes than Senator John Kerry in 2004.
"It says a lot about our country that we've come this far in a relatively short amount of time. My mom went to segregated schools in Virginia, so it is not ancient history," Wagner said.
Inside the 17th district Unisex Hair Salon in South Philly, young black men were thrilled by the broad coalition of voters who cast their ballots for Obama.
The African American vote was expected, but how other races and ethnicities would vote was uncertain.
"With him, it's about unity, it's about everybody, it's not about a color, even though a black person that made it to the White House, it's not about color; he's for everybody," Charles Morris said.
Nadine Hassan's family moved here from Beirut when she was a small child.
Her family hasn't always been active in the political process, but this election was different and it was because of Obama.
"This time it was you got to get out and you got to vote and get your voice heard," Hassan said.
Exit polls also show that Obama garnered 7 out of 10 of young, first time voters.
