Barackomania

His supporters compare him to Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Among the American leaders in whose footsteps he would like to follow, he often mentions Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, who, as he puts it, “at moments of great peril in the last century, managed both to protect the American people and to expand opportunity for the next generation. What is more, they ensured that America, by deed and example, led and lifted the world that we stood for, and fought for the freedoms sought by billions of people beyond our borders.” Even his opponents speak highly of him, both in America and those overseas whose relations with Washington are strained. The former consider him a political rival and a worthy opponent in the race for the White House. Those outside the USA consider him to be accessible, as a man who would always sooner sit down at the negotiating table than send the marines in to solve the US’s foreign political problems. This man is Barack Obama, a 46-year-old senator from Illinois, already seen by many as the Democrat candidate in the battle to become the 44th  President of the USA. Now, only Hillary Clinton, the New York senator and wife of 42nd US President Bill Clinton, stands in his path to the official nomination. Should he overcome that hurdle, Obama will prevent the USA from turning into a two-family empire (the Bush dynasty’s reign, which began in 1989 when George Bush Snr. was elected president, was broken by Bill Clinton’s two terms of office from 1993-2001).  Afterwards, only Republican candidate John McCain will be in a position to foil his bid to become the first Afro-American president of the USA. If he succeeds, he will completely justify his name – Barack – which in Arabic means “blessed”. Obama’s appearances on the American, and, thus, world political scene, have upstaged almost everyone. For example, just days before the presidential elections in Russia, the biggest country in the world whose energy resources virtually the whole of Europe depends on, all the media talk in European capitals revolved around Obama as opposed to Dmitry Medvedev, the successor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the reasons undoubtedly lies in the fact that Obama`s rise to prominence turned the battle for the Democrat nomination into a much closer-run affair than the Russian presidential race. Medvedev`s rivals never stood a chance, just as everyone, before Obama popped up, thought Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in for the Democrat nomination.   Unquestionably, another reason lies in Obama`s personality. His supporters say that his gift for politics springs up once in a generation and that his easy-going manner emanating dignity, even divinity, conceals a very disciplined and uncompromising man. “Not only is he eloquent and able to speak the language of the common man – to speak to them and for them – but he is also blessed with staggering intellect and rare emotional frankness,” a colleague once wrote.

Obama`s rise was partly based on the idea that he represented a break from established identities that defined the dividing lines between the American people. To many he represents a chance to bridge the gap between black and white, young and old, rich and poor, and Democrats, Republicans and floating voters alike.

A hope machine

Obama is perhaps best summed up in the words of one of the major players in serving US President George Bush’s two presidential campaigns, who described the senator from Illinois as “a walking talking hope machine.”. “If Obama is nominated in 2008, I won`t work for any Republican candidate,” said Bush`s associate, even before the race for November’s presidential vote had got under way. “Barackomania” has spread to Serbia as well, with his photo adorning many a “Kosovo is Serbia” hoarding, with the organisers of this campaign saying they had done so in the belief that Obama, as US president, “won`t meddle in the foreign policy of other nations, particularly Serbia.” Certain experienced Serbian politicians, like Vesna Pešić, even see the Democratic hopeful for the US presidency as their role model in political activity. Barack Obama was born on 4th August 1961 in Hawaii. His mother, a white woman from Kansas, was abandoned by his Kenyan father, who went to Harvard to study economics before returning to his homeland. He would only ever see his son, brought up by his mother`s parents, on one further occasion. Obama`s mother remarried and moved to Indonesia, where he also lived between the ages of six and ten. However, he spent most of his childhood in Hawaii with his grandfather, a furniture dealer, and grandmother, a bank clerk.

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