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Obama, Barack Obama - it doesn't have the same ring as "Bond, James Bond", but in our real world this name carries the hopes of millions for a global transformation. Of course the name is unusual, but in the U.S. that's pretty common for presidential candidates - just think of Dukakis and Kucinich. Still, Barack Obama doesn't have the same woodsman ring as, say, Lincoln or Johnson or Kennedy.

Never mind. This President has made a bigger splash in the global pond of public opinion than perhaps any two or three of his Americana-named predecessors - before even taking the oath of office.

Obama has captured the imagination of ordinary citizens because of his genuine down-to-Earth manner. He has triggered the attention of global leaders because of his uncommon wisdom. He rises to high esteem among thinkers because of his clear intellect. His political savvy is the envy of many who hold or seek elected office. Men admire his discipline and management skills, and women his courtesy, generosity and calm demeanour. And for those of us wishing to bridge the racial divide, we take heart that he is even-spoken and doesn't react to or engage in race-baiting.

Now that Obama is President, he carries the expectations of the planet's peoples on his shoulders. He will have to give his attention to three wars, several more regional conflicts, threats of terrorism at home and abroad, an economy in crisis and potentially devastating climate change. Around the globe he will be saddled with the job as peacemaker for religious strife. And in America, he will be called on as spokesman/moderator for ongoing racial conflict.

A man of deeds

I expect that President Obama will deal with issues of race in much the same way he did during his campaign, and before. His was not the path of merely words, but of deeds. Obama's campaign attracted young people by the thousands, blacks and whites. They were not attracted by rhetoric or stridency, but by an underlying acceptance that gave life to Martin Luther King Jr.'s wish for people to be judged by the content of their character rather than by the colour of their skins.

However, when race surfaced as an issue directly affecting his campaign, Obama faced it head on. In his remarks about his former Pastor, he said, "[Rev. Wright] expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, [a view that is] not only wrong but divisive at a time when we need unity."

Obama treated race as it is for many of us, a highly visible backdrop for whatever stage we play upon; present in every scene, while not the main character.

There are some Obamaphiles who are distressed that the man does not lash out with the language of the1960s. They would rather that he smite all whites. They perhaps do not see, when they look in the mirror, themselves as parodies of the very oppressors they condemn.

The example Obama sets fits a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln (one of Obama's chosen mentors): "The best way to defeat an enemy is to make him a friend."

In his selections for his Cabinet and other administrative posts Obama is showing an uncommon bipartisanship. Every day as his leadership unfolds further, I take comfort that he has survived another 24 hours of the forces that want him to fail.

His transformation of politics and diplomacy from the age of bullying to an era of reason seems at hand. I'm almost optimistic.

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