It is so easy to really like Obama. One of the most important ingredient in a powerful leader is his oratory skills, his speech making skills and his charisma. You can have the most qualified leader, but if you don't have those traits that I have just mentioned, you can never reach the heights of a great leader. Did Obama join Toastmasters when he was younger?
I listened and listened to his speeches, and was in awed all the time. You can say in your hearts, let me be cynical and question his every word. You would still end up being swayed by him. He is better in speech making than Churchill and JFK put together. He speaks with a deliberateness, and his words come out with digestible dollops of sharp ideas and emotions. The pace of his speech allows us to take it all in. He knows how to build it up, without the shouting freneticism of a evangelical preacher on hot coals. He does not need to shout. His gift is knowing what is dearest in peoples' minds, and he breaks down the defences and the uncertainty in their hearts one layer by one layer.
A brilliant speech maker does not make a brilliant President. If he was without substance, he would not have risen the ranks in his previous leadership posts. He comes across not as a black man but a man of integrity who happened to be black.
He has huge tasks ahead, he was humble in his acceptance speech, he was sobering, he did not whooped it up as a victory. He immediately put people back onto the real issues ahead. Does he have the ability to tackle the financial mess? Does he have the ability to mend foreign relations, the simmering ties with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Russia in particular? Nobody really knows the answer, but I am willing to take a bet that he can do well. He seems to have a good grasp of the issues, he does not let it get to his head that he might know all the answers. I think he will have the intelligence to appoint the right people to help him solve the right issues to tackle. What we do know is that we have someone who has the right values and integrity that we want to see to go and tackle the looming issues - and that's all we can ask for, really. I would really like to see Colin Powell being appointed to shore up the defense / foreign relations side of things. Yes, even Republicans can be appointed by a Democrat President. The nomination of the Treasury secretary is his first real test as well. I expect him to make waves by attending the G-20 meeting on Nov 15.
In terms of symbolic change in power, it is very enthralling. It is very empowering, not just for African Americans, but for all minorities. For those who are struggling against the system and the racial discrimination throughout the world. Never would I thought that a black man would be appointed as President ahead of a woman. Does that say something about feminism in America? The whole world celebrates alongside with the US in the present days that is so desperate for a shining light. Change, improvement, democracy, liberty and sensibility.
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