Why Barack Obama must win

Prior to begin writing my thoughts on "Why Barack Obama must win" I decided to visit Senator Obama's website to learn more about him. I have not read much about him because I felt that after having watched him speaking and been spoken of on television I had already learnt enough about who he was and his thinking.

Initially I was going to title this post "Why Barack Obama will win" but changed the title because even till now, perhaps a few hours before the people of the United States vote, I still have remnants of some doubts of his winning because of some factors that I feel could go against him. Let me express one factor before I come back to the actual title of my post. Though the U.S. has very high levels of literacy I believe that there is a clear distinction between being literate and being educated. While most Americans are literate, I do not think the country shares the same level of education among its peoples as it does for their literacy. Hence the limited level of education of the many would continue to confuse a majority of Americans about whether Senator Obama is Arab or Muslim or both. This confusion would hence dictate their votes against him for there is a strong bias towards people of Christian origin or faith in the United States.

Coming back to my title of this post, after months of hearing and seeing Senator Obama on television, I realised that there is one strong distinction between Senator McCain and Obama. Senator Obama clearly stands out as a independent visionary whose mind has been clearly tempered by years of "careful thinking" rather than by circumstances or by thoughts which would be convenient to hold for success in a particular political situation or which are tainted by objectives of opportunism.

Hence this makes Senator Obama an original thinker who has the strength to think differently and away from "herd mentality". This is one trait which will also distinguish him from being the usual politician who presides over the polity of the United States to that of a statesman which the country direly needs.

The other characteristic that I discerned about Senator Obama is his capacity to look at a "larger picture" and not succumb to vested interest thinking. For instance, he could display the courage of initiating changes in the country's foreign policy which,though capable of being misunderstood within his country, could have the potential of correcting the alienation of his country in the world and the criticism it has earned for its divisive and janus-faced foreign policies.

Senator Obama's possible winning and leadership will take place at one of the worst times the world has seen: The world is seeing increasing levels of mistrust between the Muslim and Christian worlds and its resultant effect on militant Islam. Tensions between the Unites States and Iran and Russia could have adverse consequences and create further rifts between several nations. The country is reeling under one of its worst financial crisis primarily because of powerful mistakes that emanated within it and which have now snowballed to a global crisis.

If Senator Obama wins it will not just be on the merits of his strengths but because a "higher power" conspired for him to be at a position which could have a lasting and posivite impact on the world.