Is Barack Obama the greatest American orator since John Kennedy – and will his dream outlast his ‘realist’ critics? According to this op-ed article from France’s Liberation, Obama is, “A man who pardons the original sin of the slave and who holds up a mirror to America in which she is beautiful, multi-racial and pragmatic. A man who will heal the gaping wound of the Iraq War and restore America’s image in the world.’
“How many politicians are capable of arousing such emotions? How many have done it since John F. Kennedy? … Obama should thank Bush in his prayers. Without him, America wouldn’t be seeking a uniter – or even a redeemer. ”
By our correspondent in New York, Isabelle Duriez, Translated By Kate Davis January 5, 2008, France – Liberation – Original Article (English)
By handily beating Hillary Clinton in Iowa, the Senator, who embodies youth and change, has confirmed his chances of becoming the first Black president in the United States.
Early one morning in Boston in July 2004, when the radio rebroadcast the speech of a certain Barack Obama, a young black man who was driving journalists to the Democratic convention said aloud: “You hear this guy? He’ll go far.”
The night before, Democrats had discovered the youthful face of this elected official from Illinois, who was campaigning for a Senate seat he would win four months later. His is a serious face that is at the same time serene, a voice that is warm and level and hands that are long and hypnotic. For many, it was only when his wife Michelle came to kiss him, a beautiful Black woman in a white pant-suit, that they realized he was Black. They were fascinated.
But no one then would have bet on the fact that four years later, this relative-unknown would establish himself as the most credible candidate in the eyes of the Democrats. Too early, too young, to inexperienced, too black, Barack Obama has heard it all – and has made it into an asset. The night before the Iowa caucuses, he said to his supporters that his opponents say: “Some say that Obama may be the source of inspiration, he might have good ideas, but hasn’t been in Washington long enough. He needs to simmer a little more to boil all the hope out of him so he speaks like all the others, and then he’ll be ready.”
It’s now or never. He’s convinced of one thing, it’s now or never. Now, because after eight years of President Bush, sterile ideological battles or unjustified wars, Americans need someone that talks about coalition-building and the need for change. Now, because with only three years in the Senate his record is still (almost) free of political maneuvering and his discourse is speeches are steeped in idealism. Now, because at 46 years old, he’s the youngest candidate and can embody – almost physically – the arrival of a new generation to power.
“Our generation,” he said to the crowds of students who come to see him en masse. Now, because he believes that his hope is contagious. If he has one talent, it’s that he can captivate crowds and make them dream of something better; he warms their hearts. Stated like this, it all seems very naive. But on Thursday night after his victory speech WATCH , the comments on political sites began as follows: “He gave me goosebumps” or “I had tears in my eyes.” How many politicians are capable of arousing such emotions? How many have done it since John F. Kennedy?
“I shouldn’t be here.” When Barack Obama speaks of hope in America, he speaks of himself. About this child who hardly seemed predestined to have a political career. Born of a student love affair between a father who came from Kenya and left as soon as his coursework was done and a White mother from Kansas who carried him in her suitcases to Jakarta. About this Black kid who smiles in photos between the two White grandparents who raised him in Hawaii. About this adolescent who tried pot and coke, searched for himself, and finally admitted that since everyone considered him Black, he must be Black.
In pointing to his symbol – the most original of all the candidates running, an “O” in the form of a rising sun, he recently noted before a motivated crowd: “Our signs don’t talk of Obama, they talk of hope. I can only speak of hope because I am here today. I wasn’t born of privilege. My mother was a teenager. My father left when I was two years old. I was raised by my grandparents. I shouldn’t be here. But they gave me love, an education, and they gave me hope.”
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