Barack Hussein Obama II

The genius of the man is that he means a lot of things to different people depending on where they come from. To many he is the anti-christ and to many more he is THE ONE.

To me he is a man of immense substance - practical yet philosophical, street smart yet very polished, young but very mature, cool but very can-do, liberal yet very disciplined and so on and so forth.

His evolution as a candidate has been an amazing journey. From a journeyman during the 2000 Democratic Convention, with the Clinton family at its powerful peak to being the upstart outsider who upset the Hillary applecart in 2008, he has blazed a trail of his own. He has been brilliant in studying his constituency and building his message. He has tackled various audiences at differing stages of his career brilliantly. Be it the Illinois electorate that gave him his first break or the liberal young college crowd that thronged his rallies or the general election crowd that need to be convinced he was more than an empty suit.

Ive been following this man for quite some time. He is THE ONE. And I thought so much before Oprah Winfrey said so.

I remember watching his 2004 DNC speech and being blown away by it. While still in hostel, I remember I used to look him up on YouTube everyday. I tracked him before he declared his candidacy and also as he declared it. Ive seen him grow as a candidate and take the centre stage.



What drew me to him was how he emphasised the need to unite, rather than divide. At a time when the world was wracked by terrorism, America's response to it with two wars, arrogant with us or against us attitude, this man seemed to be a balm to all the wounds that had been cut up. His cerebral approach to politics was stark contrast to Bush's Cheney approach!

On hindsight, I think Obama is all the more smarter as he understood the problem he faced in gunning for the Presidency and had a plan to get around it.

Fired Up Ready To Go

The most obvious thing about Obama is how good a speaker he is. He used his charisma and speech-making skills to fire up his base before Iowa. For a man who can electrify hundreds of thousands in one speech, I can only imagine how he must have fired up hundreds of people in small halls and school gymnasiums across Iowa.

Politics is about making your opponents strength their weakness. Ask Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans! Somehow Hillary and team were not able to pin down Obama on their "empty suit" line of attack.

He is a master of playing the crowd. Watch this video, the last speech he gave before the elections. The last 4 minutes are electrifying.




Grant Park - Chicago Victory Speech

I would not forget this speech. I was over at a friends house watching the results come in live. Suddenly CNN called the elections in favour of Obama. It was a great feeling. I felt as though I was one amongst those 250,000 people in Grant Park, Chicago. The enormity of what he had pulled off was astounding. It was too big to comprehend in that little moment.

He came out and addressed the world. He seemed to understand the enormity of the challenges that were ahead of him, while the rest of the world was still ecstatic to see him there.



Somehow, in that one moment, America showed the beauty of Democracy. It was regime change without a shot being fired. An ideology was overthrown and a new one dawned. Make no mistake, this man and his moment shall pass. The old might become the new and this change would become old. But the beauty of democracy is the right man with the right ideology at the right time would be the messiah.

Yes We can

The difference between Obama and a generation of politicians before him and his own peers, is his ability to inspire people to take up his cause. This video is one of many on the Web that spread his word and message. He has become the ubercool icon for the youth generation. Words like

The fierce urgency of now

We are the ones that we have been waiting for

Yes we can



that have been crafted into his speeches have made him the symbol of hope for a generation of people, for very different reasons, which Im not sure Obama himself understands fully. He has mobilised millions of people at a grass roots level to carry his message. This is not the traditional Democratic party machine, but an entire structure this is outside of it. Rudy Guiliani was right when he quoted Community Organizing as one of Obama's experiences during the Republican Convention. Where he and his party were sorely mistaken, was their lack of respect for the same.

Sure enough, he is the flavour of the season now. But that wasn't always the case. Obama has been a political chameleon but not in a way a fair-minded person could fault him. When the Rev. Wright crisis broke out, he did stand up for the Reverend in his speech on the racial divide in America. I remember seeing that speech and thought this was a great speech and that it should put his election beyond doubt. When i saw the newspapers and news coverage the next day, I did not see a ringing endorsement. Though the media was supposed to be on Obama's side, people did prefer to nuance their positions till it became clear who the top dog was. In American politics, the winner takes all!

Its a New Day

He has come through and won the election. Regardless of what he does going forward, the last two years have been historic. Not because of Barack Obama, but because for people like me who wanted the leadership of the world to change. Change comes not by just hoping for it. But by translating that hope into action, which is focussed towards an ultimate goal. When that happens, each new day seems so special.