Will Obama revive American liberalism?

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 14 — United States president-elect Barack Obama may lack experience at the national level. However, he is Harvard educated and very articulate. The U.S. electorate has indeed elected a truly international president. He is the president not only for the U.S. but also for the entire world. His promise to restore America's moral stature and standing in the world is exciting and he is expected to deliver on his words.

With the inauguration just days away, high level diplomacy will now set in and for the vast South Asian region, along with the West, Asia will remain high on Obama's list of priorites.

Great American minds of yesteryears like the late John Kenneth Galbraith, a one time brilliant representative of modern American liberalism, left behind much good that liberalism as a political force can bring. In the quiet march of liberalism, it was Galbraith more than anyone else who provided the genuine intellectual stimulus that is sorely lacking in today's America. It was Galbraith who remained convinced till the very end that economics needed to be more than theory if it was meant to substantiate politics as a means of promoting human welfare.

By the same token, the Roman Catholic pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI said that "true hope is not found in political or social liberation." He further said, "the season Advent echoes a message full of hope, which simultaneously invites us to raise our eyes to the last horizon and to recognise in the present, the songs of God-with-us. True hope comes from Jesus who liberates man from more than just political and social bondage. He creates a new humanity."

Obama means a lot for the world economy. His background is multi-faceted, in that he has Malaysian and Indonesian connections and is conversant in many languages. When you turn right, left or to the center, all you see these days are miles of smiles from Obama on countless magazines covers, calendars sold on sidewalks and bookshops and commemorative coins advertised on TV.

Obama's early years have been well-documented. Back then, he was known as Barry and enjoyed great rapport with his non-black schoolmates. He enjoys jazz, eats healthy and exercises daily, striking a picture of a cool guy. The U.S. media has indeed showered him with love and used the best superlatives to describe the 44th president whose inauguration will take place on January 20.

It seems everyone wants him over for dinner and it easy to see why. His face is the "American Dream." The mainstream media owned and run by liberals prefer to project him as the American Dream, prefering a leader of his calibre as their president. The media for all intents and purposes will protect Obama as besides being mersmerised by his good looks, they are awe struck by his youth and approach.

The iconic Obama, in my mind, will go on to be the greatest president ever that the U.S. has had.